


A Fate Unimagined - A Geralt of Rivia/OC story

by darklydeliciousdesires



Category: Geralt of Rivia - Fandom, Henry Cavill - Fandom, The Witcher
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:01:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 83,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26628715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darklydeliciousdesires/pseuds/darklydeliciousdesires
Summary: Much to his initial displeasure, Geralt finds his fate tied with that of an ember, the newest breed of monster hunters, through an occurrence neither ever thought could be possible.
Relationships: Geralt of Rivia/OFC, Geralt of rivia/OC
Comments: 41
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

“If you survive the process, you shall not merely be capable of harnessing the fire; you shall become the fire. You will be an ember, your fortitude burned into your being from the fires of Mount Rholk. The last ten years of your lives have all led to this moment, this final test. Now, walk through the fire.”

One by one, the young trainees lined up at the very bowels of Mount Rholk, the inferno chamber at the base of the volcano blazing its magical fire, ready to claim their mortality or forge them as an ember. It was the last in a long line of horrifically agonising tests, the trial by fire, all to create the newest breed of monster hunters since the fall of Kaer Morhen.

Rin stood, naked as the day she was born, waiting for her turn with a mixture of dread and eager anticipation in her belly. What she had suffered so far she surely thought she would succumb to at times, the pain, the torture, the mutilations, all notably similar to the way witchers used to be trained. No witcher had to walk through fire at the end of it all though.

With a slight incline of his head in the direction the screams came from, Omnir Kalflax beckoned Rin forward, the screams filling the air as the young man who stepped forward before either perished or ascended. It wasn’t often easy to deter. Apparently one only found out mid-way through if they had been called by the fire. If the flames ceased to burn, you were chosen.

“Walk, Rin.” He spoke solemnly. No encouragement was given, no final words of support from her Omnir, the man who had made her all she was up until this point. It wasn’t in their nature though. Embers were given no kindness or concessions as such were believed to make them feeble. Their only option was be strong. Be strong or be dead.

Taking those steps across the rocky terrain below, Rin stared at the inferno chamber, bracing herself for the scorching heat. If she was to die, it would not be frightened. She steeled herself, biting her tongue in preparation. She would not scream.

Entering the fire though, the urge bubbled in her throat like the lava in the volcano above, the pain horrific, excruciating and deliberating. She would not scream. On she continued to walk, her feet stepping upon the charred remains of all who had not made it out the other side, her skin bubbling, her hair burning away to nothing. She would not scream.

She felt as if she were dying, a whimper leaving her lips as she groaned in both agony and determination, continuing to walk until suddenly, the consuming wretchedness and suffering from the flames ceased. She was chosen. She was an ember.

Reaching the end of the chamber she sank to her knees and crawled across the jagged rocks that lined the small tunnel leading out, desperate to reach the other side. Standing at the end, she saw the healing pool below and dived into it, the magical water soothing her frazzled skin as she swam down, relishing in the healing process. Nothing had ever felt as good.

Her scalp tingled as her hair pushed through, the follicles bursting forth with her brand new, peachy orange mane, her burns healing and her sinuses no longer feeling like they were boiling. Taking a mouthful of the cool, blue water and swallowing, she felt her insides anew as she ascended, cutting through the water and hearing her fellow embers clapping her success.

“Well done, Rin. You’re the first to make it through. My congratulations,” Antel, a senior member of the Order of the Embers (although not an Omnir) offered as she swam to the edge, wrapping her in a large, black blanket once she’d climbed out. “You’re to be a strong one, I see. Just as I.” He then added, pointing to the scar that remained on her chest of a perfect flame, lifting his tunic to reveal the same on his stomach.

“Um, thank you,” she replied awkwardly, not used to hearing praise. She also didn’t expect to receive a fire mark, if she was honest, a scar only the very strongest of the embers emerged from the inferno chamber with.

“You should get used to being complimented. You’re one of us now and very worthy of such.” Antel’s words left a bitter taste in her mouth, having just walked over the remains of her fellow trainees. Were the youngsters who perished unworthy, she wondered? Their plight forgotten right there in the inferno chamber, as surely they would be too. Such did not seem fair to her.

“I wish to be alone after what I faced. I confess to feeling a little…peculiar at the moment,” she spoke, Antel nodding before combing his fingers through his bright orange hair. All embers received a variant of fire coloured hair, the other notable change being their eyes. Whenever their emotions were stirred, either positively or negatively, flames flickered their irises. It was quite the sight to behold.

“I understand, Rin. Go and rest for now,” he began, smiling kindly. “Your current state is absolutely normal too, the fire has changed you and this you must allow time to adjust towards. We feast tonight in celebration, someone will call upon you.” With that she nodded to him and Helvenna, the female ember present just as the water was cut behind her, another ember ascended.

Walking across the black shale of the shoreline, Rin looked out into the ocean and wondered where life and fate would take her now she was ascended. She could just about see the coast of the Continent in the distance, the early morning fog obscuring her view. The next biggest land mass would perhaps be a good place to start, as she knew she couldn’t stay upon Rholkrhaden Island forever.

Rin stood on the shoreline as she watched the clouds become gilded as the sun rose further, the fog making her view appear as bleak as she felt inside. She’d expected to feel quite powerful in the wake of her ascension, but instead she felt conflicted and a little mournful for those poor souls who had perished in their attempt to attain the status she now held. This was the adjusting Antel spoke of, she supposed.

There was also an air of finality about it all which she realised she had to reconcile, the only life she’d known now coming to an end. The only thing she could truly remember was training to become an ember, her life before her arrival on Rholkrhaden just a misty haze.

Originally she was from the lands she was looking out upon, her home so she was told in Nazair where she had been found as two year old orphan and taken out to the island fifteen years ago, her training beginning when she was just seven.

For her entire life, all she had known was this. She had nothing and no one to return to, but then again neither did many of the others. Orphans were often chosen as no sane parent would put their precious child through such training. The only thing Rin knew of her mother and father was that they had died in a storm out at sea, their boat capsizing while she’d remained on land being cared for by friends.

Alone was the life she’d mostly led, friendships not being encouraged within the halls of Vokken Idor, the place where all would-be embers were both trained and housed, the huge fortress also the home to the Order of the Embers.

Being a relatively new breed, not many embers held seats within the order, just six to that date. Even those who trained the new breed, the Omnir’s were still all fairly young. She felt no kinship with any of them though so therefore was more than content to begin what she’d been trained to do alone. There were many monsters out there, waiting for her. It was her calling.

What called Rin primarily in that moment was her bed, the place she set off for again after watching the sunrise. Entering through the gates of Vokken Idor, she nodded to the guards when they acknowledged her return as an ascended ember, heading for the great hall where breakfast was being served to the younger trainees. She felt peckish.

“Rin, you’ve ascended! Oh goodness, I’m so proud! Congratulations,” Kellah, the elderly cook gushed as she entered the hall, taking two slices of toast from the large platters on the table and sandwiching a fried egg between. If there was one thing they did right at Vokken Idor, it was making sure the trainees were well fed.

“Thank you, Kellah.” She replied, turning and leaving before the large, robust cook could bundle her up in a hug. Kellah was repeatedly told not to act motherly towards the trainees, but she couldn’t help herself. She was the warmest person at Vokken Idor, but the children and young adults just weren’t used to it. Everyone else treated them with cold pragmatism.

Trudging up to her room as she ate her sandwich, Rin pulled the blanket around her for warmth, the draughty corridors of the fortress biting as ever, the wind blowing in through the glassless windows. Embers always ran hot, so she suspected this was yet to kick in, her feet like blocks of ice as she climbed the last flight of stairs that would take her right to her room.

It was more of a tiny cell, a little barred window letting in the light she blocked out after drawing the ragged, jute curtain across it before crawling back under the covers of her bed, her entire body exhausted. She hadn’t slept well the previous night, compounded with the fact she’d been up with the rest of her trainee group before dawn, it made for a sleepy young woman.

She slept soundly for many hours, until there came a knock at her door alerting her to the beginning of the feast. Once awake, she stretched and rubbed her eyes, coming around and feeling much different to how she’d felt upon falling asleep.

She felt warm, very warm indeed, kicking the many layers of blankets off and enjoying the cold breeze fluttering across her skin. Another notable change was she lacked the feeling of bleakness within that she’d experience earlier upon the shale shore.

The most overwhelming of them all though was the power that coursed through her, like the fire she’d walked through itself was blazing through her veins. Getting up, she dressed speedily and then packed up her few books and changes of clothes, her pillow and blanket rolled tightly and put into her large backpack too. She didn’t intend on coming back here again.

With one final look around the room that had been hers for as long as she could remember, she turned and headed back down to the great hall to be celebrated as an ember, receiving a warm welcome from the people who had always treated her so coldly. Again, she struggled with this notion of worthiness. It seemed very cliquey to her.

She ate and drank well, stuffing napkin wrapped bundles of food into her pack before continuing with the merriment. Rin wasn’t particularly merry though, looking around and seeing just three of her original group of thirty had ascended. They all seemed to be in high spirits though, just as Omnir Kalflax was.

“I see you are ready to venture out into the world immediately then, young ember,” he noted as he sat his large bulk down in the space next to her on the pew. “You shall be a force to be reckoned with, as good if not better than any witcher who came before you. The embers will replace them completely one day, you’ll see.”

Rin had heard about witchers, but was yet to experience one. In fact, it wasn’t until five years after she had left the island on the very same day she ascended that she first encountered them at an event held by Lord Tunwin, a local noble who resided just outside of Darn Rowan.

Lord Tunwin enjoyed using embers and witchers to not only deal with any problems he encountered with monsters upon his lands, but for sport as well. Sometimes he had the monsters captured and then released into the large fighting pit with either of the beings, bets being placed over who would win. In this particular instance the fight would be her versus a minotaur.

“So, do you fancy putting down some coin upon this? I think the minotaur has it in the bag, personally,” Riley commented to his lifelong friend and fellow witcher, watching the ember pace down in the pit, waiting for her opponent.

“That all depends on the size of the minotaur. That ember down there is no feeble woman, after all,” Geralt observed as he viewed her. She was tall and muscular, nothing close to his size but definitely not slight in build.

He wagered she could give most monsters a damn good run for their money, but after he and Riley had looked over the seating platform and down into the paddock where the beast was waiting to be released, he knew which way his money would go.

“Here, four hundred on the minotaur. Not even I could take that fucker down with my bare hands.” Handing the pouch of Orens over to Riley, he looked back at the ember and felt a little pity for her.

During these fights, no weapons were to be drawn and no magic used in the first round. If you made it through the first two minutes, you could have a sword tossed down or use your magic, either of the two. Geralt doubted she’d even last that long, just using brute strength alone.

“Right, let’s see what the fire born freak can do with him then! Oh, this is bloody exciting!” Riley announced after arriving back from placing their bets, rubbing his hands together as he shuffled forward in his seat. Blood sports were one of his favourite things, after all.

Of course, embers had superior vision and hearing, much like witchers did, meaning Rin had heard every word exchanged between the two.

“This is for you, fellas.” Surging forward as the gate was lifted and the minotaur came charging out, she made it to the middle of the pit and then stopped dead. It snorted angrily at her before charging, Rin standing like a statue as people in the seating platform all roared, those who’d bet money on her willing her to move, to do something.

Each man thought his money was lost as she continued to stand perfectly still, timing the approach of the beast in accordance to how she would act. Just before he got to her, about to gore her neck with one of his horns, she ducked, grabbed one of those perilously long horns and then swung him clean off the ground and through the air, his body hitting the side of the pit with a thud, neck cleanly broken.

The crowd roared in appreciative cheers as she viewed the carcass of her opponent, looking up at the two witchers as she walked toward the exit to retrieve her money, a sizeable amount since of course, she’d betted on herself to win.

“Not bad for a fire born freak, am I?” She shot at Riley, flames flickering her irises. “And yes, you’re right. You probably couldn’t have taken him on with your bare hands. You are just a witcher, after all. I’m the apex predator around here, snowdrop.” She then barked at Geralt, sauntering out of the area with a huge grin, leaving the two witchers to sit there and deal with the uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment.

“I am hereby never calling you Geralt again. Come on, snowdrop. Let’s go and get a couple of ales,” Riley laughed, delighted with the banter fodder that’d just been handed to him. He might have disliked that the ember had just lost him a lot of coin, but giving him that name to taunt his friend with was utterly priceless.

“Fuck off, Riley. Unless you want me to feed your arsehole with your head.” He muttered, getting up and storming away, his friend cackling behind him. Geralt wasn’t sure what irritated him more, the fact he was four hundred Orens down, had been publicly insulted, or that the two had come from a woman who was so delectable she’d made his cock twitch as soon as he’d seen her up close.


	2. Chapter 2

“So apparently, that mark across her chest meant she’s stronger than your average ember. Quite simply they call it a fire mark,” Riley announced as he sat down, passing a tankard of ale to Geralt, who was still firmly stuck in pissed off mode. “I sort of don’t feel so bad I lost so many hundreds of Orens now. Oh, crack your face, you miserable old bastard. She only called you snowdrop.”

“Let it rest, Riley. I’m sure we can find subjects more interesting to talk about other than an ember. Also, I have heard of the fire mark before and what such signifies,” he bristled in reply, gulping back his ale. 

“It’s only because you want to fuck her,” he stated through a mouthful of pork scratchings he’d bought at the bar, picking around through the bowl and shovelling a few more into his mouth as he grinned at his extremely vexed looking friend. “I know you do, I heard your heartbeat quickening when you saw her.” He further teased, crunching unceremoniously through a mouthful of crisped pig skin.

Geralt should have been used to this now, spending as much time with Riley and knowing him well as he did. He was much more cheerful than your usual sullen witcher, extremely verbally playful and a master at sarcastic retort. When it came to what he did though, he was just as effective and merciless as any other of his kind. 

“The ice you are skating upon is thinning by the moment,” Geralt muttered, viewing him through narrowed eyes.

“I’ve been skating upon it for over sixty years and it’s yet to plunge me into the icy water, as it were,” he replied, grinning hugely. “Go on, snowdrop. Go and find her, let her singe your petals.” He continued, promptly doubling over when he received an unexpected fist to the stomach. 

“I warned you,” Geralt sniffed, picking up his ale and taking a swig as Riley spluttered, spitting and coughing scratching remains onto the floor.

“And there’s the icy water,” he groaned, sitting back up quickly and coolly running a hand through his short, dark red hair, raising his eyebrows suggestively to a woman who had seen it unfold. “Hello, darling. Can I interest you in busying yourself with a snake eyed witcher for a few hours? I promise you won’t see my face for the first two.” He then added, winking a bright yellow eye at her while wiggling his tongue. 

“It’ll cost you,” she informed him, giving him a sultry look while pushing her breasts forward.

“I don’t doubt such. How much?” Riley then questioned.

“Fifty.”

“And with that, I depart!” He told Geralt, draining his ale and getting up to throw the whore over his shoulder, marching her off to wherever he planned on taking her to shag her brains out. 

Geralt might have regarded Riley like a brother, but in that moment he was glad of the quiet. ‘Hopefully getting laid will calm him down a little’ he thought to himself, finishing his ale and leaving. 

He walked along the bank of the river, glad for the peaceful surroundings after what had been an arduous period of hunting for both he and Riley. Sadly for Geralt though, his peace was about to be completely destroyed. 

Looking back at the water as he entered a sharp bend, he encountered a sight that made his breath catch in his throat. There she was, the minotaur flinging ember in all her naked splendour, bathing in the water. 

He barely had chance to appreciate her before doing the gentlemanly thing and turning back to let he bathe in peace before a fireball shot from her hand and through the air towards him.

“I don’t tolerate being spied upon, witcher,” she spat, turning at speed and aiming another for him which he dodged just as proficiently at the first.

“You didn’t even give me the chance to turn back, which was my intention upon seeing you bathing,” he replied, the ember frowning deeply at him. Still, she made no move to cover her modesty. That made things difficult for him, because she looked so mouth-watering, he honestly wished she would. 

What she did do was throw out another few fireballs, rage etched across her beautiful features as she neared him. “Oh, so it’s a fight you want then?” He asked, his temper rising dangerously. Man, woman, witcher, ember, beast, he wouldn’t be attacked for no reason. He used his magic on her, attempting to hit her with an Axii, the ember moving speedily and throwing another fireball.

They went back and forth at speed, Axii and fireball meeting in the air and exploding as they slowly neared each other, Rin getting to the edge of the riverbank and running at him, growling low in her throat with rage, aiming her elbow for his ribs. Instead, she found herself grabbed at the upper arm and thigh before she flew through the air, hitting the water again hard. 

“I move much faster than a minotaur. Let that be a lesson to you. Enjoy your swim.” Geralt told her, returning the look of pure rage before he turned. He found out precisely five seconds later that turning your back upon a furious ember was perhaps the most foolish thing one could do. 

He sensed her there though, turning just as she reached him. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t gauge her movements well enough, Rin bluffing him by aiming for his face only to drop and sweep his legs out from underneath him, balling her fist and punching him straight in the knee. 

It hurt a lot more than he anticipated, realising from that more than witnessing her make a minotaur fly just how much power he was dealing with. She was easily as strong as him, or if he cared to admit it, maybe a little stronger. He didn’t care to though. 

Getting up he grabbed her arm, wrenching it around and holding her from behind until she jumped up and slammed her head backwards into his nose, whirling around and using his grasp against him as she threw him through the air and into the river where he landed face first. When he emerged, she was standing over him. 

“Give in, witcher,” she snarled, Geralt standing to loom over her. She might have been tall, but he still had a rough four-inch height advantage upon her. Still, it didn’t stop her from throat punching him, Geralt seeing red and clasping both hands around her neck, driving her down into the riverbed and holding her there under the water, pinning her legs with his knees.

“Give in? I did not want to start this in the first place, you bad tempered creature,” he growled at her, letting her up out of the water but keeping hold of her. She thrashed against him, gasping for air that wouldn’t come, anger pulsing through her. 

Rin knew he had the advantage just as well as he did though. It felt good for him, to redress the balance, knowing she wasn’t strong enough to fight him off this time. For her, it stung her pride heavily. “I will let you go, but firstly you shall know who the fucking apex predator is, to use your words. Then, I shall do as I said I wanted to in the beginning and walk away. If you don’t let me, the next time my hands wrap around your neck, I shall snap it.” 

The back of her head hit the stones of the riverbed in an instant, spluttering and gagging as he held her there under the water. She felt as if she was about to drown, her vision blurring and her lungs burning with desperation for until suddenly, he pulled her back out again. 

“So, lesson learned?” He asked, staring at her balefully, his nose touching hers. Just for a second, she suddenly had a flash through her mind of being held in the same way by him, but within the confines of her mind’s eye, they were both naked and he was fucking her.

It made something in the way she looked at him soften a little, a lustful look in her eyes as flames flickered her irises. Her pulse drummed wildly for a few beats against his palm, Geralt of course picking up on it. It was in that moment he let himself recoil from all-out anger too, imagining exactly the same thing. Gods, them in bed together. How cataclysmic such a pairing would be. 

The moment was over in a flash though, Rin nodding quickly in response to his question and taking a big, grateful breath when he finally let her go. Expectorating the water she’d breathed in, she was still absolutely livid but not willing to pursue a further fight as the witcher walked away, leaving her there to calm down. 

Maybe she wasn’t as strong as she’d considered herself to be, maybe she’d acted too hastily in attacking him in the first place, or maybe she’d liked it when he’d held her down, but such feelings made for one conflicted ember as she finally got up and walked back to the riverbank to dress once more. She loathed him, but good gods, he was strikingly enigmatic. 

As for Geralt, more or less the same confliction troubled him, having her naked form flash through his mind, imagining instead of fighting her he’d have carried her back to the bank, pinned her down in the same way and buried his cock within her. 

He felt that very appendage twitch as he imagined fucking her wildly, those fiery irises glowing for him. It would be a merciless hate fuck, one which conveyed the fact he disliked her just about as much as he desired her and her criminally sinful body. He hadn’t seen a woman built like that in quite some time. 

She was curvy, with ample breasts, a narrow waist and big hips, thick, powerful thighs set on long legs and muscular arms. It made him shudder with illicit desire, growling at himself as he cast thoughts of the sexually enchanting ember from his mind, annoyed that desire had gotten under his skin like that. As soon as he saw Riley later that evening, he was forced to think of her again though. 

“That’s an impressive bruise. Have you been enjoying yourself without me? You could fetched me if there was a monster to be fought,” he said, joining Geralt in the local tavern again. 

“Because you were so thrilled the last time I disturbed you whilst balls deep in a whore,” he quipped sarcastically in reply, Riley making a face that said such was fair comment. “There was no monster either. Well, maybe that is debatable.” 

“The ember?” Riley began after thinking for a few moments, a grin spreading all over his face. “Blimey, if that’s the state of your neck, what the hell does your cock look like right now? Do you even have one left?” 

“I didn’t fuck her!” Geralt snapped, Riley laughing as he drummed his hands off the bar amusedly. 

“Yes you did! And she handed your arse to you!” he laughed, grinning and giving him a playful shove in the chest. 

“We didn’t fuck, Riley! We did, however, have somewhat of a brawl.” He then took the time to explain what had happened, his fellow witcher looking as entertained as Geralt knew he would. 

“She’s a feisty one, isn’t she? Well, I hope we run into her again in the future,” he said, taking his ale and gulping it back. After his afternoon and evening of activity, he definitely required quenching.

“Why so?” Geralt asked. 

“Because it’ll be amusing to witness a woman keeping you on your toes to that extent.” To this, Geralt only had one reply, both to his friend’s words and the prospect of ever encountering the ember again. 

“Hmm.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Gentleman, welcome to my court. There is a reason most heinously specific I have called upon you for your assistance this evening, but firstly we must await the arrival of the third before I begin,” Torres var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard spoke to Geralt and Riley, who both quietly wondered just what on earth was awaiting them.

Usually work within the City of the Golden Towers could never be found, the Emperor’s Impera Brigade more than capable of dealing with any monster issues swiftly and efficiently. The men had only been passing through on their way to Winneburg, after all, not expecting to find anything notable within the city.

The fact that he had summoned two witchers and a third was very telling over what kind of monster they’d be up against, that the beast needed three experts to bring it down. Just then they heard the heavy doors behind them open, footballs echoing through the room as the third made their entrance.

“Rin of Rholkrhaden, your Imperial Majesty.” One of the guards announced, the ember coming to a stop at Geralt’s side, eyeing him with distaste before respectfully inclining her head towards the Emperor.

“For fuck’s sake,” Geralt muttered, turning to Riley. Of course, he had amusement etched all over his face.

“Rin! I can put a name to the lovely face at last! Good to see you again,” Riley then beamed brightly, leaning around Geralt and grinning at her. Her lip twitched into something between a smile and a snarl, her eyes falling back to the Emperor.

“Now, you are likely wondering just what kind of monster would drive me to procure not one, but two witchers as well as an ember rather than using my own men for the task. You see, too many of my own men have perished attempting to thwart the beasts, so I require the assistance of those trained to do so. I assume you’ve all encountered basilisks before, hmmm?” he spoke, the three nodding.

“Five in the past month. I slaughtered them up at Darn Ymlac, a mother and her offspring and then the remaining three at Vicovaro. They’re breeding plentifully somewhere inland rather than out at sea.

“I’d suggest a young breeding pair likely became disoriented during a storm and travelled the river system until they arrived at Loc Grim, since this is the next largest body of water and perfect for a female to build her nest within,” Rin stated, the Emperor looking impressed.

“Then to Loc Grim I suggest you eventually travel, all expenses paid along the way on top of your usual fees, of course. I cannot allow this to go on as they’re beginning to eat into livestock as well as people who wander too close to the river. Slay those you encounter along the way first before arriving at the source. That will be all.” He dismissed them with a wave of his hand, the guards opening the doors.

Rin was the first to stride through them, heading back down the many stairs of the palace with Riley hot on her heels.

“So, looks like the three of us will be spending a significant amount of time together. With this in mind, I’d like to apologise for referring to you as a fire born freak,” he offered, of course not altogether that sorry at all, but wanting to smooth things over for the sake of an easy journey.

“They were big words, coming from a man with the eyes of a viper,” she replied, her purposeful striding continuing.

“Touché,” he began. “Look, I wasn’t insulting your appearance. I’m honestly not that way inclined. I can think of something more creative. Besides, if I was I’d have likely have called you fire crotch or something similar,” he sniffed, hoping his joke would land. He smiled when he saw her smirk, laughing quietly through her nose.

“It would have been anatomically incorrect.” Riley looked at her questioningly there, seeking clarification.

“Unfortunately that hair failed to grow back once I’d dived into the healing pool at the end of my trial by fire, so no, fire crotch would be an inaccurate insult. And I can’t believe I just told you that, fuck,” she told him, Riley raising his eyebrows while Rin kicked herself internally. In wanting to get one up on him, she’d revealed slightly more than she’d intended to.

“So you’re as bald as a whore after a lice infestation?” he asked. To continue working after receiving a bout of pubic lice, whores often removed their pubic hair, finding such to be easier to deal with than waiting for herbal ointments to solve the issue.

“I really do not wish to discuss the finer details of my crotch with you, despite the fact that for all intents and purposes, you do seem a humorous, jovial sort of fella. I appreciate the apology too, but let’s just keep this strictly business. I’m not in the market for chit chat with witchers I barely know.” With that she walked on ahead, leaving Riley to wait for Geralt, who hadn’t been as keen to fall into step with the ember.

“But get to know me first, then hate me!” Riley called after her, holding his arms wide and expressively as he laughed. He couldn’t help himself, he had to find his amusement somewhere.

“Keen on her, then?” Geralt asked.

“No. She’s attractive, but I like them a little daintier. You know this,” he replied with a shrug.

“You like them with a pulse, that appears to have been your only pre-requisite in all the time I’ve known you,” he told him, Riley laughing.

“Be that as it may, I’m not interested in the ember. It’d be too strange for you, knowing I’d been there first when you eventually fuck her. Because you will, one day. Fuck her, that is.” Geralt was just about to tell him that not everything revolved around sex when he of course realised he was doing his usual thing of bait dangling, so remained silent.

Climbing onto Roach, Riley already sat waiting on the back of Ed, his piebald coloured gelding, they then waited for Rin to join them, the woman appearing on a large, dark bay mare up ahead. They rode on out of the Emperor’s compound, onto the road heading east, back the way they’d all separately came since meeting two months prior.

“So, tell me of the basilisks you encountered then,” Geralt asked, realising he had to put his dislike of Rin aside in order to work efficiently with her.

“What exactly do you wish to know?” she replied, doing a far lesser job of keeping her contempt for him out of her tone that he had for her.

“Size, exact locations, frequency of sightings and locations of any you might have left alive,” he put to her, Rin replying immediately.

“Standard size, males at thirty feet and females at twenty or below, frequency roughly one to two per week and if I saw, I killed. If I plan to take something down permanently, I never leave it alive.” Her alluding to the fact she was letting him know she could have killed him at the river if she’d wanted wasn’t lost on Geralt, but for the second time that evening, he wouldn’t rise to the bait.

He had to wonder just how many were there since basilisk eggs hatched in a matter of days, meaning that a breeding pair could populate a waterway extremely quickly, as it seemed had happened since neither he nor Riley had heard any activity. Then again, they’d travelled south of the river which fed into Loc Grim, so this was unsurprising.

“I propose we make camp here for the night, try and lure any that might be lurking out by keeping a presence here by the river. I’ll take the first watch, you two rest.” Geralt proposed, Riley and Rin agreeing. Sorting the horses, tethering them away from their camp just in case of any basilisk related activity, Rin the collected firewood while Riley and Geralt walked the bank.

“Look, right there. Slither marks,” Riley announced pointing ahead to where the grass had been flattened down in a long, wide channel.

“So they’re coming out to feed around here then, recently too. That sheep’s blood is relatively fresh, only a day or so old,” Geralt then added, pointing to a sanguine cluster of nettles. When they arrived back at their chosen spot to camp they found the fire already roaring, Rin sitting cross legged in front of it.

“I found a few pieces of what used to be ewes when I was collecting this wood, so I’d guess they’re feeding in this area,” she commented, Riley telling her of their own findings. “Perhaps all of us should remain awake then, be vigilant in case they return. They only eat at night, after all. Those ewe remains I found had been there at least a day.”

“You do what you like, I’m going to sleep for a few hours.” Riley yawned, sitting down on the other side of the fire and leaning back against his saddle pack, nodding off shortly after and leaving them with only their mutual dislike of the other hanging in the silent air between them.

With no desire to strike up any kind of conversation with the man she still firmly believed had spied on her while she bathed, Rin followed Riley’s lead, resting her head on her pack and nodding off. She hadn’t required a blanket in months, such was the heat of the southern summer.

Her sleep didn’t last for long though, feeling someone shake her away and then clasp a hand over her mouth when she made a murmuring noise. Looking up as she came round, she saw Geralt holding a finger to his lips before pointing out at the river, where the water rippled from being stirred below the surface.

“Riley will distract it, we shall slay it.” He told her, leaning in close to her hear to whisper as quietly as he could. It was a plan she was agreeable to, since having its back turned to them would be the safest way to kill a creature who could end you should your gaze directly meet theirs.

Rin was distracted from this momentarily though by the fact the very scent of him caused her to feel a sharp throb of longing deep in her groin. Fuck, he smelled good. Standing slowly she turned all thoughts to the task at hand though, crouching to his side. Her arm just happened to brush his though, the muscles so hard she physically shuddered. Curse him.

“Oi, over here, yoo-hoo! Come and try me for size for dinner then!” Riley began to yell, turning just as the basilisk excited the water and running at speed as it breached the banks and surged after him with a spine-chilling screech. Geralt and Rin shot up and ran after it, swords drawn as they both gained on the beast impressively, until the emergence of its baby blocked their path.

“Leave it, we’ll kill it once we’ve taken the mother down!” Geralt shouted, swerving as he looked at the floor and continued to run. Rin wasn’t about to let a prime opportunity to kill it first and then focus on the larger one pass her by though.

She hit it with a quick succession of fireballs, the baby screaming in pain before she hacked at it until it was decapitated. It was that scream which alerted the mother to her infant in distress though, the mighty beast stopping and turning, roaring in rage and dismay as she watched its corpse smoulder.

“You fucking idiot! I told you we’d take on the mother first, just how fucking easy do you think it’ll be now to take her on when you’ve just slaughtered her offspring!” Geralt roared at her before him and Rin both jumped to avoid her tail coming out of the water at them. They then ducked the same, the huge tail coming back at them like a gigantic whip while Riley tried in vain to distract her again.

The enraged basilisk slithered right for them at speed, both of them viewing her through their peripheral vision as they attempted to thwart her by sword, spell and fire. Geralt was right though, it wasn’t easy. It knocked Riley flying with its tail, nearly managed to engage Geralt in a stare and was about a foot away from almost biting Rin’s arm off, Geralt happy to use her as bait and eventually take the serpent’s head.

“You absolute fucking twat!” Riley roared at her, all his joviality diminished as he got in her face and shoved her. “I could have been killed, as could he and you too, not that I’m particularly bothered by the prospect of your demise right now after putting us in the kind of danger you did! If he tells you to leave it, you fucking leave it! Do not assume to know better than either of us!”

“Fuck you, I’ve been doing this for five years, do not speak to me like a child! I made one mistake and I’m sorry but…” was as far as she got.

“Oooooh, five fucking years!” He interrupted, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “We’ve been hunting monsters since before you were born, for sixty-two years to be precise so yes, I will speak to you like a child because from where I’m standing, you are one!”

“Do you now perhaps realise you’re the type to act first, think later?” Geralt told her coldly, of course also referencing the river fiasco from back when they’d first met.

Shaking his head and muttering that she was an ignorant fucking ember, he and Riley walked away to go and retrieve the scattered horses, leaving Rin to stand there feeling humiliated, her pride stinging as the baby basilisk she should have just left alone burned at her side. What stung her the most was knowing the witcher she disliked so much was absolutely right.


	4. Chapter 4

“Here, Blanche. You have some more, he did give them to me for you, after all.” Rin told her mare as she fed her more of the humongous carrots that a kindly farmer had given to her while she’d been riding past his land. She continued to crunch on one of the smaller ones herself while sweeping the brush over her mare’s shiny, summer coat, glad of the fact it was just them for that moment.

Riley and Geralt had gone to hunt for anything they could in way of food while she remained with the horses, the sun just starting to set for the evening. Tensions were still high after the basilisk incident the night before, Rin still feeling the sting from her wounded pride throbbing away.

She’d thought about riding away alone to continue the journey to Loc Grim, but come to realise such was a childish move and if there was one thing she wasn’t prepared to take, it was that she was childish. Everything else the witchers had thrown at her angrily was true, she realised, but not that.

“An adult can admit their mistakes, and I admit mine.” She spoke aloud, picking mud from Blanche’s hooves. She knew that twenty-two was young still compared to however old Geralt and Riley were, but she wouldn’t give them further reason to consider her immature. This meant staying put and sucking it up. They were mostly silent later that evening as they ate, neither of the men saying anything to her. It seemed they only really spoke to her when absolutely necessary. Well, this is what she thought.

“So what were your trials like, baldie? I’ve never spoken to an ember about everything that makes them what they are and I’d like to learn. Also, since I’m definitely the friendlier out of us, I want to be the one to thaw the ice. I see you’re sorry for what you did, even if Geralt will likely just use the event as fodder to dislike you further,” Riley explained, arriving at her side as she sat on the riverbank and thudding down next to her.

Even though she’d only had minimal contact with Riley, so far she found him to be quite an amiable kind of person, the type she could find herself easily enjoying conversation with. It was with this in mind that she decided to go back on her word about not partaking in any chit chat and stop being so aloof for once, although she wished he wouldn’t call her baldie on account of the state of her crotch.

“I can imagine similar to yours. I’ve heard about the trials you witchers have to take and yes, they sound quite similar to ours. The things they did to make little children hardened fighting machines, fuck. No wonder they choose orphans. I could never put a child through that,” she began, Riley nodding.

“Made to rely upon yourself and no one else as a little nipper, force fed potions that make you feel like you’re dying inside without the actual luxury of death, oh yes! I remember that. It’s one of the reasons behind my cheerful disposition, because if I think on what I endured for too long then I become sullen and that is no life. They robbed me of enough,” he replied, his tone darkening and brightening throughout.

“Our potions were more often than not lit on fire, you know, to make us become able to do this,” she told him, demonstrating by emitting a fireball from her hand, shaking it again to extinguish it.

“You had to drink fire? Blimey,” he exclaimed quietly, raising his eyebrows. “I thought the tonic they dropped in my eyes which made them look like this was bad enough, but fire swallowing? Then again, I don’t envy you having to complete the trial by fire. That’s perhaps one of the worst pains I can imagine,” he replied, stretching his long legs out and leaning back on his elbows.

They sat there going back and forth over what they’d suffered to turn them into the formidable forces that they were, both identifying very much with the other over what they’d felt whilst in the midst of it.

Although she’d made friends since leaving Rholkrhaden Island, she barely ever spoke of what she’d endured. With Riley, it was easy to fall into the topic, for in his own way he’d been through it too. Rin found him very easy to talk to, liking that he really listened when she spoke, nodding as he took in her words.

“I think what really affected me the most was the casual attitude to those who didn’t make it. Children who died during the training were just thrown into a hole in the ground, or those who burned alive attempting to complete the trial by fire just had their bones left in the chamber. I remember walking over them before I ascended. There was no thought for them,” she sighed sadly, remembering the fallen.

“I like that about you, you know. You have a very strong moral compass and a big sense of empathy. It’s quite rare to find in breeds such as ours, the empathy, that is. We’re not built to have that softness about us, are we? But yet, here it is in you, me and Geralt also,” he remarked. “Makes it almost all seem worth it, what we faced.” He then added a little wistfully, not exactly in reference to his previous statement as he looked out at a point far in the distance.

“It was worth it, if you ask me. I very much enjoy what I am, as do you seem to as well. Your friend back there, good as he likely is, doesn’t seem to relish in it,” she observed, Riley making a disagreeable face.

“No, no, he does. He likes being a witcher. It’s all either of us knows really, same with you. He’s just a lot more stoic in demeanour. You’ll probably like him once you both get over this active dislike of one another over something that truly was a misunderstanding,” he put to her, Rin snorting incredulously.

“Granted, but I don’t really want to,” she sighed, feeling prickled at the thought of such.

“That pride of yours, it’s quite a fucking thing, isn’t it?” Looking at with a slight knowing smirk he waited, watching her trying not to react with a smile until she broke.

“Yes, it is. I admit I am bull headed and very proud. I still have no interest in discovering a liking of Geralt though.” He left it there, instead talking to her about the basilisk hunt, Rin offering to take the first watch that night while he and Geralt slept.

The night brought no incident, Rin happy enough to remain awake throughout the night, feeling in a selfless mood even though it was tempting to thump Geralt awake. She now accepted that he hadn’t been spying on her while she bathed, but still, there was something about him that rubbed her the wrong way.

She was still annoyed that she’d lost the fight which had followed, hating to have encountered someone who was stronger than she. Her strength was what she prided herself on, after all. It had got her through the tough formative years of her life and was an imperative component where her profession was concerned.

She wasn’t easily bested, so to have been by him, compounded by the fact she’d then monumentally fucked up in his presence and been yelled at because of it – also by him – wasn’t easy to swallow. It was even less so thanks to the fact that she was physically attracted to him. They’d work in bed, she seemed to sense this strongly.

Pausing from putting Blanche’s tack on for a second, she let herself imagine it, locked in a sweaty embrace with him, her hands all over his hard, bulky body, kissing his full lips, his cock filling her to the hilt, imagining what his lust drenched groans would sound like, being that he had such a deep voice, all until…

“We have a detour to take. Hurry up.” Geralt told her blankly, climbing onto Roach’s back and riding over to Riley. The latter informed her that when he’d been out looking to scavenge something for breakfast earlier, he’d encountered a woman from the next village over looking for someone who could help with a monster problem they were dealing with.

“It shouldn’t take long, maybe a day or so depending on what we’re dealing with,” he said, taking Rin’s sword for her helpfully when she struggled to get out of her sweater. The morning sun had brought with it a significant rise in temperature.

Pulling the garment off, Geralt couldn’t help but briefly (and very discreetly) side eye her figure. She wore a black leather corset with armoured inlays to protect her vital organs, a hint of cleavage exposed over the top that made him shudder to imagine running his tongue over her breasts. As much as he disliked Rin, he had to admit she was a stunning beauty.

“So how did she describe this monster, then?” she asked, knotting her sweater around her waist and taking her sword back.

“It was very nondescript. Scary, ethereal and bloodthirsty. Those adjectives don’t really narrow it down.” She agreed and with that they rode to the small village, meeting the woman at a local tavern to hear all about the monster in a little finer detail, a few other locals chipping in with descriptions too.

“That sounds like a case of wraiths to me, since you state there’ve been multiple sightings. Did anyone perish here recently?” Geralt asked, the woman nodding vigorously.

“Yes, a family all succumbed to the pox about a month ago. That’s when we began seeing the creatures, mostly around by their old house.” It made perfect sense for this to be the case, since wraiths were known to haunt their former homes.

“Can you show us where they’re buried?” Rin asked, one of the men looking a little uncomfortable.

“Well, we can. Only problem is, they’re in a mound with the rest of the dead from the outbreak,” he replied, Rin nodding like such was no problem.

“All we need is one of you to identify who the family are so we can deal with the remains accordingly in order to stop them from haunting the village,” Geralt told him, standing when his companions did.

“I knew ‘em, I’ll be able to identify the bodies.” With that they all left the tavern, mounting their horses outside.

“Tell you what, this is a one person job. You two carry on up the river and I’ll catch you up. I shouldn’t be here longer than a day or so and with the rate those basilisk’s are breeding at, we don’t really have time to pause in taking out as many as we can coming down river. I’ll see you soon!” Riley said after helping the man up onto Ed’s back too, digging his heels into his sides and cantering off down the street before either could protest.

“You fucking shit,” Geralt grumbled under his breath. He knew Riley of old and knew exactly why he’d volunteered himself to handle the wraiths alone.

“Well, we might as well make a move,” Rin sighed, about as displeased with the situation as he was.

“Hmm.” He replied, determined that Riley’s plan to force them into some kind of social communication would backfire completely. They rode from the village, back out onto the road, both a little too preoccupied by Riley’s deviousness to notice the woman in the dark red cloak, hiding in the trees as she watched them intently.


	5. Chapter 5

His tongue circled her navel, hands groping at her beautiful, full breasts as she tipped her head back and moaned, her strong thighs locking around him, squeezing his waist as his mouth reached hers and he kissed her with unbridled lust. 

He pulled her astride him, feeling her molten cunt encase his cock a second later, both of them groaning as she began to move in a way no other woman ever had on top of him, so forceful, her hands sliding over his back as he watched her hazel eyes becoming illuminated by the flames. 

The fire they enjoyed their passions beside might have burned hot, but absolutely nothing could compare to the heat between ember and witcher as they gave in to one another, tongues entwining, bodies undulating, hands roaming as the sounds of their sex filled the air all around, Geralt then suddenly feeling an unpleasant nudging against his hip. There it was again, and again…

“Snowdrop, wake up. We have company,” Rin stated in a whispered hiss, toeing his hip with her boot and trying hard to focus. The sounds of that big, gorgeous man groaning in his sleep had made a small puddle form in her undergarments though, imagining him making the same noises while inside of her. 

“You know what to do this time,” he told her firmly and very quietly, Rin nodding, her face unimpressed. Mostly that was just residual anger that she’d found herself fantasising about him again though. It was happening quite a lot of late, imagining what it’d be like to have Geralt of Rivia between her legs. 

“I do, go for the mother first, that is if it’s female. I’m unsure, it looks bigger from those ripples. I’ll play decoy, I bet I’m the faster runner.” He gave her a slightly incredulous look but then swiftly remembered this was no time to let his ego get in the way, turning his eyes back to the river as Rin moved fast and low away from him, planning where to lead the creature. 

“Mother fuck!” she exclaimed when it rose out of the water, running as fast as she could, the basilisk focusing in on her as it slithered out of the river. It was definitely a male, hence her exclamation at the sheer size of the beast. 

Continuing to run, she heard it screech in pain as it came under Geralt’s attack, partially turning back to see its guts beginning to spill out as he ripped at it with his sword. It did nothing to slow it down though. Looking out ahead, she then saw the horses running away, Roach becoming a little disoriented as Blanche bolted in one direction and she in another. Unfortunately, the basilisk saw this too. 

Lunging for where she galloped, Rin knew he’d catch her unless she acted fast, throwing a fireball at the beast and stunning it, another following to set its head on fire. “Go, go!” she then screamed, waving her arms at Roach who then galloped off to safety just as the head of the basilisk hit the ground, Geralt there to decapitate it a second later.

“Why the fuck did you have to set it on fire? I had it!” Geralt fumed as he turned to her.

“Oh, sorry did you not witness your mare running in terror because it’d spotted and gone after her? Just what kind of feckless moron are you, snowdrop, that you can’t see your own horse in distress?” she yelled back sarcastically.

“She was fine, she could have outrun it, and stop fucking calling me snowdrop, you arsehole of a woman!” he roared at her. 

“My left tit, she was fine! I just stopped your beloved mare from becoming basilisk food and this is what I get? All you had to say was ‘thank you, Rin’, but no! Fuck you!” she screamed, turning and whistling for Blanche.

“You wish,” he muttered.

“No, I think you do, going from those noises you were making in your sleep. Yes, I did hear,” she threw at him before running off to locate her horse, leaving him feeling embarrassed. Had he muttered her name too, or was she just making a lucky guess? Either way, it didn’t sit well with him, grumbling with annoyance as he set off to locate Roach. 

When he found her, it was a sight conflicting to behold, Rin standing in front of her while Roach leaned into her, stroking her ears and under her big, frightened eyes. 

“Shhhhhh, lovely girl. It’s alright,” she soothed her with, Roach’s head darting up again as she puffed her nostrils out, still skittish and on alert. Blanche, on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less, grazing behind them greedily on the long grass. “You’re really spooked, aren’t you? There, there, you’re fine now.” Rin continued softly, stroking her face until the mare began to calm down, whickering happily at Geralt as he quietly approached. 

“Thank you, Rin,” he said, getting over his dislike of her enough to actually show his appreciation that she had both caught and calmed down his terrified horse. 

“Hmm.” She replied, pulling Blanche’s head up by her halter and walking her back to where they’d made camp. Leaving her to graze, she sat back down again, picking at the small loaf of bread she’d bought upon entering the village earlier, glad to eat something else other than meat, for once. 

Geralt arrived back on the other side of the fire, stretching out and not saying anything further until he told her he’d take the watch from then on so she could sleep. She was glad of it, having not slept at all the previous night. 

When she woke up the following morning, she found herself alone for a few moments, her eyes fluttering open and then shut as she came round slowly. It was in one of the opening moments that she saw Geralt enter her line of vision, his skin damp looking and hair wet. 

Leaving one eye partially open, it wasn’t lost on her that it made her an awful hypocrite to accuse him of spying on her in a state of undress when she was doing the same thing herself, watching his shirtless form and marvelling to herself over his muscles. He was truly huge. 

She shut her eyes again before he could notice her, entertaining herself with picturing him still in her mind’s eye before predictably, becoming frustrated at her fantasising over a man she disliked so much and getting up to go and wash in the river. 

For the rest of the day neither said anything to the other, both enjoying the silence and hoping Riley’s return would be sooner rather than later, so that they wouldn’t have to deal with the other being their sole company. When it came to a disagreement over how to cross the river in order to reach some eggs they’d spotted out on the other side though, they had plenty to say to each other then. 

“When they have impaired vision, they won’t see a raft going over the top of the water. They don’t fucking surface feed either, they actually leave the water to hunt for land animals and then there’s the fact they’re primarily nocturnal creatures. Trust me, a raft will be perfectly safe rather than heading all the way back to the bridge,” Geralt fumed, Rin remaining sceptical. 

“So you think you can find enough wood to construct this hypothetical raft and lash it together in a quicker time than it will take for us to ride five miles back to the bridge? I think you’re talking out of your arse, snowdrop. All because you don’t want to concede that you are wrong,” she told him, having him get right in her face a second later.

“Stop fucking calling me that,” he growled, temper flaring.

“Make me,” she replied through gritted teeth, wanting nothing more than to punch him for being so pig headed about the whole thing. 

“Don’t tempt me.” He told her coldly. It was at that point Rin realised that she didn’t work for Geralt and it wasn’t his coin paying for her time. It was the Emperor funding her expertise. She didn’t have to go along with anything if she chose not to. 

“Where the fuck are you going?” he asked as she mounted Blanche.

“Back to the bridge. I’ll be at the eggs before you’ve even finished tying logs together to make your pathetic raft.” Nudging her forward they set off at speed, Blanche covering the ground impressively. Meanwhile Geralt stood and fumed, realising that Rin probably was right and taking a detour likely to be the simplest, most effective option. 

Just under an hour passed of him losing his temper and messing around with logs before he saw her appear on the other side of the river, her face smug looking. 

“Of course you’d relish in being right, you sanctimonious bitch.” He muttered, letting the logs fall in a pile and taking a seat instead to watch her dispose of the eggs. 

She gave a few cautionary glances at the water, Geralt having to give credit where it was due when she whistled loudly and threw some stones at the edge in order to see if anything was lurking nearby, only moving in on the nest when she saw no ripples coming from the water.

Smashing the eggs, she quickly slaughtered the babies within, Geralt turning to retrieve where a grazing Roach had wandered off to. He was halfway there when he suddenly heard the sound of a basilisk exiting the water with an almighty screech, turning to see it lunge at Rin and knock her straight into the river. 

“Fuck.” He cursed, unsheathing his sword and running back as speed, shouting loudly and waving his arms to distract it. He briefly saw her emerge, the basilisk knocking her back in with its tail as it swished and exited the water, now more interested in him. 

He focused on the neck of the creature, throwing a spell to stun it and then quickly changing direction to avoid its head crashing down on top of him, swinging his sword and taking its head in two brutally delivered blows. 

Running to the river, Rin still hadn’t emerged from under the water, Geralt dropping his sword and diving in, swimming to the point he’d last seen her before she’d been submerged again. The water was murky, but he managed to locate her and bring her back up to the surface at speed, dragging her out onto the bank. 

“Rin? Rin,” he began, tapping her cheek quickly with his hand and checking her pulse. She still had a heartbeat, but after leaning down to feel if her breath fluttered against his cheek, he deduced that she wasn’t breathing. “Don’t fucking die on me, woman.” He stated, tilting her head back and pinching her nose, breathing into her mouth to start inflating her lungs. 

“Come on, Rin! You’re much too stubborn to die now. You’re an ember, you’re the fire, drowning isn’t an option.” He continued after breathing into her mouth another five times. 

He was just about to try for a sixth when she suddenly opened her eyes and coughed out water, gurgling and spluttering as what she’d breathed back all came out again. She panted to catch her breath, gripping onto his forearm as she sat up, her eyes finally falling onto his. She’d never noticed before just how beautiful they were. 

She wasn’t sure if it was that, the fact she was attracted to him so heavily, or that she knew he’d just saved her life, but something made her forget how much she disliked him for the length of time it took to lean forward and kiss him at the exact moment he made the same move. 

She felt her heartbeat double in pace, the pent-up desire for one another burning like wildfire, arms locking around each other tightly as they gave in to the radiating sexual chemistry between them. It was all a furious flurry of passion before suddenly, she pushed him away. 

“No, get off me.” Getting up she then ran and dived back into the river, emerging and swimming back to the other side. She was pretty certain the dead basilisk was all that was about to come out of the water for a while, taking the risk and riding Blanche back across, the horse enjoying the cooling swim. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked after dismounting, letting her mare have a good shake. 

“I save your life, for which I receive no thanks, we kiss, you tell me to get off you and now you’re looking at me like I just punched Blanche in the muzzle. You’re a strange woman,” he told her, shaking his head but then suddenly smiling.

“What are you smirking about?” she asked him sharply.

“The fact that I know you want to fuck me just as much as I do you,” he replied, laughing quietly, something that only vexed her further.

“I don’t like you enough to fuck you. I don’t like you at all,” she replied, feeling angered at his assessment. It was only because he was right though.

“So you’ve never had a hate fuck before? You’re missing out. See, people say that the best sex is when you’re in love with someone, but I’d be inclined to disagree. I’ve never been in love with anyone, but I have had some of the best sex I’ve ever experienced with women I absolutely couldn’t stand,” he told her, Rin snorting. 

“Well, you won’t get the experience with me. I don’t want you.” Folding her arms, she looked at him defiantly, Geralt only smirking more as he closed the gap between her, leaning down to her level and looking her dead in the eye. 

“You’re a liar. You forget how sharp my senses are and believe me, all of them sense exactly how much you want me right here.” With a single finger pressed against her sex, he made her jolt like she’d just been bitten by something with very sharp teeth, Rin furious at her own body for giving her away by reacting. 

She turned away and jumped back onto Blanche, riding up the bank and putting some much needed physical space between her and the witcher who she wanted so much, she could feel her insides throbbing with a burning ache for. 


	6. Chapter 6

“Yes, I definitely think we should seek shelter. It’s fucking hammered down for hours now, typical as it is for the veracity of your average southern storm,” Riley commented as they stood beneath the canopy a gigantic tree, the rain coming down hard. “And that’s our cue to move out from under here!” He then added when lightning flashed across the sky, an ear-splitting rumble of thunder following.

It had been a week since Rin’s near drowning incident and five days since Riley returned, finding the atmosphere between his best friend and new friend just as frosty as it was when he left them to deal with the wraith issue. He found himself taking to Rin quite notably, finding her to be a likeable person when she allowed herself to be.

A lot of the time, he observed – and likely much to the annoyance of both if he ever pointed such out – Rin was very much like Geralt; quiet and brooding, with the capacity to be quite bad tempered and quick to fly off the handle, but also amiable when such suited her, with a good heart too. He supposed perhaps it was their similarities which caused the clash more than anything.

Luckily for them, they managed to find a large inn to lodge at with plenty of rooms available and stables free as well, Ed and Roach sharing and Blanche in with the pony belonging to the innkeeper since there was only one available.

“Does anyone have a knife so I may cut the tension in the air between you two? It’s like being sat between two beasts who aren’t sure whether they want to fuck or kill one another, blimey!” Riley announced after they’d sat down with drinks, Geralt making Rin growl with annoyance when he winked at her. “Oh, bye, then.” He then added when she stormed off, looking back at Geralt.

“Getting a reaction out of her is entertaining. She’s too easy to play with,” he explained, laughing into his beer.

“So you’ve gone from hating her to…tormenting her with unrequited advances?” Riley asked, resting his feet up on a chair only to be roared at by the puce faced innkeeper’s wife, pulling a mock scared face as he rested his boots back onto the floor.

“I didn’t ever hate her, but I still dislike her general attitude. Also, they’re only unrequited because she’s cutting off her nose to spite her face. We both know we want to fuck one another, this I’ll actually admit now, because that woman, for all her unlikable qualities…well…” He trailed off at that point, remembering how it was to kiss her, to feel how hot her skin was, embers having increased body temperature.

“The look on your face finished your sentence more than words ever could,” Riley commented, looking amused. “It does mean I cannot taunt you over such any longer and that, my friend, I do find to be a poor show!”

“I don’t doubt you’ll find something else, you always do,” Geralt reminded him, Riley grinning widely.

“Yes I do, snowdrop. Yes I do.” Of course, he had his head bitten off immediately for calling him by the most ridiculous, maddening nickname he’d ever had to endure, Riley laughing into his beer while Geralt sat quietly fuming. “Can I help you, woman sitting in the back staring at us?” He then added rowdily to the woman he’d noticed, swathed in a red cloak trying to conceal her glances at them. She should have known that such would be futile against an eye as keen as that of a witcher.

Without word she got up and hurried away, heading out of the room and down to the other end of the inn, to the quiet room at the back for patrons who didn’t wish to be within the hustle and bustle of the bar area.

“I saw the way the witcher with the white hair looks at you,” she began, after sitting down next to Rin.

“Erm, excuse me?” she questioned, at both the intrusion of her personal space and the poking her nose into her business. A perfect stranger too, how rude. “What of it?” she then asked.

“Never succumb to him, you mustn’t let it happen. If you and he are ever to be intimate together, the result of such would bring about the unleashing of a force the world is not ready for. Do not react to me, ember, but hear me. Listen. I have seen the future and you cannot, you must not let it happen. I cannot be more emphatic. I must depart before I am noticed but please, ember. I beg of you, heed my warning.”

Rin couldn’t remember a time where she’d felt more perplexed than she did in that moment, shaking her head and laughing. “Barmy woman.” She muttered, taking another swig of her cider before continuing to read from one of the books she’d helped herself to from the bookcase.

The more she thought on the woman’s words, the more entertained she became though. “What, will we scorch the earth with the combined power of our orgasms, produce a force field that decimates all in its path from our sexual organs, or unleash a curse that shall bring about the end of the world by uttering sexually fervent moans?” she muttered, beginning to laugh behind the book.

Her laughter ceased when once again, she drifted into the illicit daydream of her and Geralt together, all over one another, with their bodies locked together in a furiously passionate tryst. It had been a few months since she’d last taken a lover, her need for a man beginning to consume her so much she did think about going out and finding one. There was only one she wanted though.

“And you shan’t give him the satisfaction of giving up the pink to him.” She mumbled, her resolve undiluted, no matter how sexually pent up she was beginning to become. As she sat there though, she had to wonder why the thought irritated her so much.

After all, she now accepted he hadn’t spied on her in the first place, so all was good in her mind where that was concerned. The only reason they seemed to be clashing was from the fact they both enjoyed partaking in actions or statements that were deliberately designed to bother the other. What had he actually _done_ to deserve her venom?

Shaking her head and turning the page, she continued to read, finishing her cider and having the innkeeper’s son shyly ask if she’d like another. When he brought it back, it was with flushed cheeks and a shaky hand, Rin knowing a teenage crush when she saw one.

“Y-you’re the m-most beautiful woman I-I’ve ever seen, m’lady,” he told her, his bravery swelling through his stammering enough for him to take her hand and kiss it. Immediately, she melted at how sweet he was.

“Well thank you, kind sir. I do not believe anyone has ever told me such before,” she replied, squeezing his fingers. In her time since leaving Vokken Idor and the people who had treated her with nothing but coldness, her in turn not adjusting well to the warmth of human spirit, part of her had evolved and allowed herself to soften when someone was genuinely nice to her.

“How could they not? You’re an ember, you’re so luminous. May I court you?” She just wanted to bundle him up into a hug at that point, finding his bravery to ask a full grown woman when he was a mere lad of roughly fifteen if he may court her. Oh, he was lovely.

“I’m afraid I am just passing through. You save that charm and those gorgeous green eyes for a girl who shall be around for long enough to appreciate you.” She told him standing and kissing his cheek. He looked utterly thrilled at such a gesture, smiling and nodding as he turned and hurried back the way he came. 

With that, she cast her eyes back to the book, but still couldn’t seem to shake the preoccupied thoughts she was experiencing regarding Geralt. It was driving her to literal distraction now, the fiery lust that licked her belly whenever she imagined herself with him.

Such became even worse when her senses prickled, alerting her to the fact she was being watched. Looking up from the pages she could barely focus properly upon, she saw two golden amber eyes watching her intently, the people who had previously stood in the way of being able to see from that room into the bar now gone.

She swallowed hard, looking away but still feeling the weight of his stare upon her, becoming bothered by his intrusion. Even from another room, she could feel him getting under her skin. Her eyes flickered up to catch his gaze again, holding him in a stare before she shut them, images of running her tongue up his bare chest projecting against her closed eyelids.

Her breathing became heavier as she imagined the tightness of his arms enveloping her, her breath catching and cunt pulsing when she thought about his face between her legs, him holding her down and fucking her assiduously, her heart starting to thunder in her chest.

The intensity of his stare, amber eyes seeming to darken as his body reacted in a similar state from comparably impure thoughts had Rin entranced, her skin breaking out into goose pimples, her mouth drying up. If by just looking at her, this was the effect, she had to wonder how it would feel to have him touch her.

She now couldn’t look away, he had her held fast as he got up and left the empty table (Riley likely absconded with a woman somewhere) to walk slowly through into the room she was in. 

As soon as he entered, the air around them seemed to crackle, Rin hardly able to breathe for the pressure on her chest, the fireplace to her side suddenly burning brighter as the flames shot up the chimney.

It was because of her, the fire reacting to her as her own burned brighter, flames flicking her stormy, hazel eyes, everything becoming so intense that people actually ceased their chatter and spectated, looking between the witcher and the ember as they waited with baited breath. Whatever was to happen, it was likely to be big.

Feeling something fracture within, her resolve snapping, Rin left her seat at speed and headed for the stairs, Geralt right behind her. As she ascended, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, her heart beating so quickly she felt nauseous.

Walking those stairs, her back tingled from his closeness, feeling like she was being stalked by a predator, about to be devoured, but making no move to escape. Besides, she’d give a good as she got.

Feeling him move closer, just the flutter of his hot breath hitting her shoulder made her knees weak, his large arm moving around her, pressing his hand into stomach to steady her as they reached her bedroom door.

The energy between them from that touch was like lightning jumping from one stormy cloud to another, the air around them just as thick and heavy as it was outside, where the storm continued to rage.

Moving her hair slowly from her shoulder, his lips ghosted a kiss against her neck, Rin feeling her nipples harden as she reached out and turned the doorknob, her very soul within her burning like the fires of Mount Rholk that had made her all she was.

As soon as the door shut and their mouths finally crashed together in an electrifying kiss, the innkeeper downstairs had to run to fill water buckets, the fireplace booming with a surge of fire so large, he was surprised the whole room didn’t become engulfed.


	7. Chapter 7

Feeling his back hit the closed door, Geralt was reminded quite painfully of the power Rin possessed, knowing she’d battle against him for dominance, two alphas not prepared to submit to the other. Not at least for that moment as he threw her into the opposing wall so hard a crack formed, pressing her there as he tore her corset from her body with a violent rip, mouth claiming hers once more.

She allowed herself to be pinned there, literally ripping his shirt off him and running her hands across his back, groaning at the gratification of his skin connecting with hers. Shivers wracked them both as Rin turned him and forced him back against the wall, the battle for supremacy continuing.

They shared hungry, animalistic kisses, both breathing erratically through their noses as they fought against the rest of their clothes, their desire burning between them like an absolute inferno. As he ran his hands all over her, absolutely entranced by desire, Geralt had never encountered heat like it; physical heat that only grew, her skin roasting hot against his.

The heat in the room increased markedly when suddenly, every single candle in there illuminated by itself, the flames rising up boldly before they settled, Geralt ceasing the siege upon her mouth with his to raise a questioning eyebrow.

“That wasn’t me. That was you, igniting my fire.” Grabbing his trousers roughly she then had them undone and off in moments, making him shiver violently when she ran her tongue in a firm lick up his incredibly large, engorged cock, grabbing her and hauling her up.

She locked her legs around him, allowing herself to be pinned down onto the bed. He made short work of her remaining clothes, his mouth assailing her neck as she began to attempt to dominate him once more.

“Don’t be a bad girl, Rin. Let me pin you down, or I shan’t let you feel this,” he began, running his tongue up her check. “Right here.” He finished, sliding his hand between her legs, one finger teasing her slit with a single, firm stroke. “Besides, I know you enjoyed it, the last time I held you down.”

Those words, so darkly delivered by a voice even deeper than usual, coupled with his big hand clenching at her throat had Rin so furiously aroused, she couldn’t even speak. No cocky response, no sharply delivered retort, she couldn’t even formulate words in her brain and deliver them from her mouth.

His teeth crushing her nipples roused her from the foggy state she’d slipped into, the action coaxing a groan from deep in her throat. His mouth steadily trailed to the other, bestowing the same, his tongue running around the dark pink bud before impatiently seeking territories further south on her body. The aroused scent of her womanhood drove him out of his mind with desire; he needed the taste too.

When his face levelled with her sex, he took a few moments to appreciate the different aesthetic, never encountering a woman bare of her pubic hair before. It was pretty, all pink and soft and it felt like velvet against his tongue as he ran the tip over her outer lips, making her squirm.

He repeated this, an action borne of his desire to tease her a little, until the urge overtook him completely and into her slit his tongue so happily glided, the aqueous fruit of her arousal soaking it on contact.

Rin wailed so loudly at that first contiguity, people three rooms away heard her, his hand still at her throat squeezing a little when she sat up slightly, his strength overpowering her as he pushed her down once more.

As his tongue then started to circle at her clit, what she felt was overwhelming, beaming through her groin and up her spine until it reached her fingertips. The sound that spilled from her mouth when his lips encased her little bud and sucked, his cheeks hollowing and eyes closing, was unfamiliar simply for the fact she’d never had such lured from her before.

It was a primal wail, the onset to the candle flames flickering violently once more, her arousal so ignited as it was by him. She arched into him, his hand releasing her neck as it joined the other to follow the curve of her lower back, tongue beating against her clit in a rapid flicker that once more had her wailing with sounds she barely recognised to be of her voice.

Her cunt practically flowed onto his tongue when he moved it to taste her on the inside, Geralt hungrily swallowing back that silky nectar as he felt her powerful thighs flex against his head, her feet resting on his back as she writhed against him and the utter divinity his mouth conjured.

He pushed his hands against her legs and held them to the bed, the muscles trembling under his palms, removing one hand to replace his tongue from tasting her sweet, tight little hole with two fingers instead.

He took the stimulation back to her aching clit, using the flat of his tongue to circle while the fingers inside her stroked, forcing gasps of delight from her throat. Heat spiralled within her, the ecstasy he gave almost too much to bear, ignited and aroused almost beyond comprehension.

She clutched the bed covers beneath, writhing and gasping as her defined abdominals tensed, shaking with oversensitivity as his tongue ran from her clit to chase perspiration trails around her navel, fingers slipping out of her as he sat up, pulling her astride him.

Rin guided him to her soaking opening, gasping as his colossal girth began to stretch her, pushing against one another until they were joined. Their eyes locked together in intensity, kissing one another with exuberance as she rolled her hips against him and her cunt swallowed his length hole.

That time when the candle flames flickered, it was in such a manner that the wax caught fire, the room all around them beginning to burn.

They were both too far gone, almost drunk on one another and the incredible chemistry between them to care as the flames surrounded them, Rin rocking against him as he met each movement with a forceful shunt of his hips, filling, emptying her, her slick muscles hugging him tightly.

Their arms locked around each other as they lost themselves to syrupy, hot kisses, their skin soaked with sweat at the fire completely took hold, Rin suddenly letting go and making a flicking motion with her hands which extinguished it all, leaving just the melted down candles illuminating the room.

“Yes, let’s not burn the entire inn down,” Geralt told her, laughing a little as he caught her cupid’s bow between his teeth, nibbling it gently before his tongue sought to dance with hers once more. “Does that happen every time?”

“Not to this extent.” She replied before her mouth was claimed by his once more, being kissed hungrily by the handsome witcher, his rough fingers tangling in her long, peach hair. He’d never experienced anything like this, like her, in all of his long life, a heat between them so furious it caused actual wildfire.

It was raw, primitive, guttural sex, her nails lacerating his back as she tipped her head back and wailed, his cock hitting a spot within her none before had been big enough to seek out, Geralt retaliating by grabbing her hair and yanking her head to the side, sinking his teeth into her neck in a move that was pure dominant aggression.

Wild hunger consumed them totally, Rin wrapping her long, delicate fingers around his throat slowly before suddenly – and with force he wasn’t expecting – pushing him back and holding him there, her fiery gaze so powerful it was almost as if she was looking right into him, down into the depths of his soul.

She then began to move her hips in such a way that every breath he exhaled was a gravelly, lust drenched groan, her hand tightening at his throat a little, flames still igniting her eyes as she fucked him in a way no woman ever had before. For the first time ever, he was more than willing to be played that way too.

“You are, ahhhhh.” He couldn’t even finish the sentence, his eyes rolling back in his head as he succumbed to her sexual magic, her fire, whatever it was which made her the most consuming temptress he’d ever met. She was a sexual goddess, capable of doing with one look what most women couldn’t achieve with their entire beings.

Continuing to work her hips in the thoroughly scandalous way that had him so utterly bewitched, Rin began to rub at her clit with her free hand, her hand tightening to continue to deprive him of air slowly, her fingers pressing the thick veins that also constricted the blood flow, knowing exactly what such would do to him.

As their bodies poured with perspiration, she increased the pace, her teeth clamping against her bottom lip before her mouth dropped open and a cry poured out, leaning forward and claiming his mouth in a kiss of magmatic eroticism, feeling him beginning to twitch within her slippery, pulsating walls.

She worked his hardness with forceful, rhythmic motions, knowing he was close, her hand cutting off his breath completely as she wailed, her cunt in spasm around him, so burning hot, starting to milk his cock as Geralt saw his vision blurring.

Everything went black, his consciousness failing him before suddenly her teeth at his nipple coupled with her hand releasing his throat made an orgasm of such magnitude rush through him that his whole body tensed rigidly, colours illuminating behind his eyelids as his cock poured streams of release into her.

Once again, the candle flames rose up, this time Rin’s hand wave extinguishing them all, leaving only the fading summer light to partially illuminate the room. They both fought for breath in the wake of their undoing, the heady pleasure that’d devoured them both ebbing away gently again.

She’d noticed before that her emotions had a direct link to any sources of fire, flames burning brighter when she was angry or aroused, for example, but not to the extent that’d happened between them. Geralt was the only man she’d ever been with where the room had caught fire as a direct result of the assiduousness of their coition.

“So tell me, Geralt of Rivia. How many further times would you like to catch fire again tonight?” she purred in his ear, tongue running up the outer edge before she bit the soft lobe.

“As many as you can physically handle.” She liked the sound of that.


	8. Chapter 8

Her growls of abandon filled the air as he slowed his rhythm, backing off from a frenzied, merciless pounding of her cunt to a slow, purposeful movement, dragging every girthy inch of his cock in a sumptuously slow glide against her twitching walls. 

Spearing her again hard, he reached her hilt and groaned, moving one leg so his foot was flat on the bed to the side of her, allowing him to bottom out deeper the next time, Rin wailing and then shrieking in surprise when he spanked her, two quick successive welts from his big hand to her rounded bum cheeks stinging so much her eyes watered.

Her red-hot pussy hugged him snugly as he withdrew slowly once again, his cock glistening in the moonlight. It was almost too much to withstand for him, how hot she burned all over, but nowhere more so than her cunt. She was like magma without the scalding. 

Alternating, he drove into her hard again, balls smacking against her with a lewd slap as he began to fuck her frenziedly, Rin demanding he go harder as her hands gripped the iron bedframe, the metal heating up until it was orange beneath her grip.

He pounded her voraciously, hardly able to believe his ears when she demanded more, fucking her with more violent vigour than he’d ever dared inflict upon a woman before. Her aroused gnarls grew louder, her voice low and gravelly with arousal as she felt each thrust cause sparks, lightning darting up her spine. 

“That’s it, fiery temptress. Cum for me again.” He growled low in her ear, tongue brushing her throat and his hand fisting her clammy hair to yank her head back, the howl of release reverberating through his ear as his teeth implanted themselves into her shoulder, the pain adding to the overwhelming pleasure. 

Little tremors wracked his cock as he slowed again, not for her benefit but merely a gesture of personal greed, wanting to experience those pleasurable twinges as intensely as possible. Re-establishing the surging pace again, he let go of her hair and gripped her shoulders, forcing her to take the full, unyielding brunt of every acerbically delivered thrust. 

His groans were as low as the rolling thunder outside, the storm re-igniting, almost like it was egging them on to continue the wild sexual marathon, now into its sixth hour of longevity with only minimal breaks to rest. 

Before Geralt, Rin had never known a man who could give her well a full hour of penetration without reaching orgasm, but she was starting to learn much was different about the man who was inside of her. 

Pulling her up to her knees, his sweaty chest slid against her wet back as he slowed down once more, plunging upwards as he split her cunt wide around him, her wetness squelching loudly as she panted, her arm reaching back to tangle in his hair as she turned her head to kiss him. 

His fingers reaching to circle her hardened clit caused her to begin glimmering once more, her mouth leaving his as her head lolled back against his thick shoulder, wailing almost helplessly, her body signalling she had more to give yet. 

The hunger within her groin to feel the spiralling of climax continued to grow, far from being sated. She wanted more, this position she was in not being able to attain his full length and so thus moving and turning to face him, trying to push him back. 

“No,” he told her firmly, hands spreading her thighs as he sat rock like, immovable. 

“No?” she questioned, trying again. This time, she was grabbed at the waist, Geralt carrying her to the door and flattening her against it, Rin wrapping her legs around him as he dropped her down onto his hard, hot cock. 

Gripping her thighs, his fingers left red crescents in her flesh as he began to thrust into her wildly, everything feral and uncontained, Rin’s head thudding against the wall as he buried his mouth against her neck. 

The bites and kisses he laid there drove loud moans from her mouth, her nails once again tearing the flesh of his back, muscles undulating beneath as blood mingled with sweat. His mouth sucked purple bruises onto her neck, branding her, tongue tasting her before it danced with hers, groaning into their kiss. 

Her fingers weaved through his hair, a whine leaving her mouth and entering his as the force of each abrupt thrust made his pubic bone bounce against her clit rhythmically, Rin feeling sparks there that travelled right through her down to her toes.

Chasing their releases, the raw heat of their mutual climaxes had them both grunting and cursing loudly, Rin screaming as she came, her nails clawing the wood of the door above her head before once again, his back received further gashes. 

They lost all control from that point, beyond compelled to continue well after dawn, the innkeeper having to apologise to all those who complained of the raucous noise emanating from the room. However, he was quick to explain there was no way he was about to go and tell two people as powerful as a witcher and an ember to keep the volume of their sexual shenanigans down. 

Eventually, a full day and night after they’d begun, they did rest for a little longer, Rin lighting what was left of the candles before flopping onto her back, sated and spent for that moment. 

“So that’s what it takes for you to cease being such a bad-tempered woman then, me taking you to bed and fucking your brains out for…however many hours we’ve been absconded to this room for?” he asked, Rin still looking a little spaced out. After all, in the last half an hour he’d made her cum twelve times. 

“Well, you do just happen to be an incredibly accomplished lover. Better than humans, that’s for sure. I suppose all that suffering we endured has to have its upsides. Giving us almost limitless sexual stamina would be one of them, incredibly addictive prowess would be another,” she told him, reaching out and slapping his thigh a few times weakly to enforce her point.

“You certainly possess both, Rin. So, do you still hate me?” he then asked, turning over onto his front to let his stinging, torn up back breathe a little. 

“Would you even care if I did?” she counter questioned, raising an eyebrow as she turned her head to the side. 

“Perhaps.” Studying his face, she couldn’t quite gauge what was behind his casual answer, but the way he looked at her in that moment suddenly made her question why she’d ever disliked him at all.

“Then I don’t hate you any longer. Actually, I’m unsure I ever did.” They both knew it was likely the sex drunk talk opposed to anything else, their dominant personalities sure to clash again in the future in other situations that didn’t involve being naked in bed together. 

For that moment they chose to focus on what drew them closer rather than what would cause friction though, Rin rolling onto her side and seeking a kiss he duly gave, sliding a thick thigh between her legs. She shifted slightly, her leg curling around him as their kiss deepened, Geralt enjoying the feeling of her sex against the apex of his hip. 

Again, they were drawn into hours of scintillatingly heated sex, the residents of the inn in the rooms within the immediate proximity kept awake for the second night from their loud exclamations. When the morning came and still they showed no signs of stopping, someone did knock the door though.

“Geralt! For the love of all things sacred, does the poor woman have a vagina left at all?” Riley shouted through the door after hammering it with his fist.

“Fuck off.” Came his friend’s reply, not pausing from holding Rin down by her neck, pounding her savagely. 

“You’ve been absconded to that room dicking her to death for a full two days. Surely we can move on soon? Rin, is there anything left or have you worn his cock away to a stump? I’d be impressed if you have, I hear he’s hung like a bull.” 

She’d have laughed at that if she could get the sound out of her throat, grinning instead at his words and shaking with silent giggles. “Fine, I’ll leave you to it. Ignore me.” He pouted comically, slinking away again and going to find his amusement elsewhere. 

“Yes, fuck me.” She encouraged, her voice a ragged rasp from all of her wailing, his hand tightening around her throat as he thundered into her fervently, his release burning through his loins, taking her with him with a loud exclamation of the word ‘fuck’, his vision swimming in the aftermath. 

This woman, gods, what she did to him. He saw more so now than ever before that embers truly were the fire. What they’d shared in that room probably destroyed him just as much as it nourished and sated, his body covered in bites and scratches, beyond exhausted, realising the swimming vision was now beyond his control as he lay down on top of her and promptly fell asleep. 

They awoke again at midday, realising somewhat reluctantly that they had to cease at some point and get moving again, washing and dressing before leaving the wreck of a room behind. 

Their last act of destruction was managing to break the bed, the support bar buckling down the middle. It hadn’t stopped them for a moment though, moving the mattress to the floor and continuing. Geralt bared this in mind when after they’d finally eaten something and rehydrated, it came to paying for their time there. 

“Here, there’s some extra there for fire damage,” he told the innkeeper while Riley’s ears pricked up.

“I’ve been in that room, sir,” he commented, making a motion with his hand that he required more recompense. 

Geralt handed over more coins. 

“The broken bed.”

A few more coins left his hand.

“The bloodied bed linen.”

Again, more coins were offered. 

“The candle wax everywhere. The bloody scorch marks too!”

Riley couldn’t keep the salacious look off his face at this point, while Rin stood behind Geralt, trying not to burst out laughing. 

“The scratches on the back of the door and the cracks in the walls.”

“You kids were wild in there!” Riley then yelled with mirth. “Is there anything left or did you just break everything, yourselves included?” 

“The windows are alright,” Geralt replied dryly, turning and walking out. 

“Can you walk?” Riley inquired, putting a friendly arm around Rin’s shoulders.

“Just about,” she confirmed, starting to laugh.

“Come on then, baldie. Let’s see if you can actually sit in a saddle properly,” he then teased her with, Rin as usual chiding him for calling her by his mildly irritating nickname for her as they left. When it came to actually getting on Blanche, Rin had a few false starts before moving her to a low wall and then managing to land, her eyes scrunched shut as she cursed. 

“Bastard.” She exclaimed at Geralt, who laughed his deep, rumbling laugh, Riley not quite being so discreet as he found many ways to torment her over her extremely sexually sore state as they rode out of the village. 

Once again, no one noticed they were being watched either, the woman dressed in the red cloak shaking her head in despair as she watched from the window of a boarding house, sure that what she’d advised against had happened. 

She sighed, whirling her hand and opening a portal, stepping through back to her people and hoping no one had noticed her disappearance. They would have her head if it was ever discovered she’d tried to warn them, no matter how nondescript she’d been. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanking all of you who are reading/leaving comments. I'd definitely love to hear more from you, although I accept that this isn't as popular as my last Geralt work.

“So, it’s been three days and you still haven’t given me any details,” Riley asked as they rode along, Rin in the distance letting Blanche have a little gallop, as the mare enjoyed. 

“To what details do you refer?” Geralt replied, knowing full well what he meant, but not wanting to play into his hands too easily. 

“Your two days and two nights with our friend the ember!” he exclaimed, yellow eyes widening.

“You know I’m not the type to reveal such, but in the interests of getting you to shut up, all I’ll say is thus. That woman is the most incredible lover I’ve ever known and for that reason alone, I hope our paths cross again many times to come in the future once we depart this hunt,” he informed him, Riley riddled with curiosity.

“What, even better than the lord’s wife?” he questioned.

“Yes.”

“And the princess?”

“Again, yes.”

“Even the whore who could tie a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue?”

“Yes, Riley. Even her. She was so sexually devastating, she made me pass out.”

“How? How did she…how?!” 

“Use your imagination. She certainly knows how to use hers.” He grinned smugly at remembering it all, taking a few swigs from his water flask and shaking his head when Riley demanded to know more. 

“You can’t just leave it there!” he protested, Geralt remaining steadfast. 

“That’s all you’re getting, you snoopy pervert,” he told him, entertained by his friends’ disappointment that he’d revealed all he ever would. Just because he received (without ever asking for them) all the finer details of Riley’s sex life, it didn’t mean he would divulge the same. “But I would appreciate you if you gave us some time alone later though.” 

“Message read and understood. I shall find another area to sleep while you two make the beast with two backs.” He kept to his word come nightfall when they finally stopped, tired from a fight against a very aggressive young basilisk earlier in the day, but not so tired that Rin didn’t shed all of her clothes as soon as Riley was out of view. 

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” she told him, Geralt welcoming her onto his lap as she sat astride him, his hands gliding down her back as he licked her nipples in turn. She had the most sumptuously full breasts he’d ever seen, big but still pert, her dark pink buds swelling against his tongue. 

“You’re not alone in that notion.” He replied as she pulled off his shirt, hands smoothing down his chest, enjoying how the liberal smattering of soft, dark hair felt against her palms, then her nipples as she crushed her breasts against him, her mouth claiming his. 

Their hands delighted in the exploration of bare skin, Rin feeling his cock beginning to harden rapidly, unable to resist the urge to begin grinding against it. A gruff murmur rumbled through his throat, hands cupping her breasts, feeling the overwhelming heat of her sex right against his manhood through his trousers, the hard mass straining against the fabric for release. 

Putting her need to feel him gliding into her heat aside, she shifted to undo his trousers, taking them off and marvelling once again at his naked splendour. He was truly a feast for the eyes, all manliness and muscle, with the most gigantic cock she’d ever encountered. 

Taking it into her hand she pumped his shaft while laying kisses across his abdomen, the muscles quaking beneath, his body jolting when her tongue trailed the crease of each well-defined hip. 

Her hand continued to manipulate the softly encased steel while her mouth moved to the head of his erection, gently rolling back his foreskin to expose the flesh her tongue tasted with a series of keen licks that had him groaning throatily. 

Inching him into her mouthy steadily, she continued caressing the remaining hardness with her hand, moving to focus on tickling his balls with her fingernails once she had as much of his length as she could fit sheathed within her mouth. 

She relaxed her throat, the head of his cock nestled within before dragging her lips back up again, whirling her tongue around it again before once more, she swallowed him whole. He lay back on his elbows, enjoying the hedonistic sight of his length disappearing into her mouth, Rin’s fiery eyes locking onto his and winking at him.

Her head bobbed up and down contently, feeling him hardening further against her tongue, her cunt tingling with the raw desire to feel him inside her. She wasn’t the only one in need of the gratification of them being fused at the groin either, Geralt enjoying her mouth for only a short time longer before he pulled her up. 

Tongues entwining as they kissed, Rin managed to encase his hardness without even guiding him to her, her nails grazing his shoulders. Again, as their passions spiralled, the fire to the side of them crackled and burned more furiously, not as notable as the room catching fire but it certainly didn’t go unnoticed. 

She began to undulate intently against him, her head tipping back as a breathless moan escaped her throat, his mouth laying kisses from her sternum to her breasts, enjoying the exquisite heat of her body radiating against him once more. 

Bouncing rhythmically on his cock, Rin bracketed his face with her hands and stared at him, his eyes looking golden in the firelight, so handsome her heart jolted in her chest to behold him so closely. Him being inside of her felt like more than just an intense sexual connection too, yet she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. 

She had no romantic feelings towards him despite their getting on much better since their forty-eight-hour fuck fest, all she knew was that whatever the connection was, whatever his pull, it was unlike anything she’d experienced before.

Something that did play on her mind though were the words of the mysterious woman she’d encountered before it had happened. She’d cast it out of her mind for the time, but the effects of them being together, the surging of the fire, was there a connection there? 

“You look exceedingly thoughtful for someone who just came four times,” Geralt questioned as they lay together under a blanket, bodies glowing with sweat in the aftermath of their sexual escapades.

“Oh, you were counting?” she questioned playfully, reaching over and circling his nipple with her fingernails. 

“My eardrums noticed.” Yes, she was loud when she came. 

“A man of your prowess should be used to such by now,” she began, Geralt raising his eyebrows and looking smug in an ‘I suppose you’re correct’ sort of way. “Yes, back to your original assessment I am a little thoughtful. It’s likely just horseshit though.” 

Waving her hand dismissively, she shook her head, Geralt looking at her inquiringly. “Before I finally succumbed to you, a strange woman whom I’ve never met before came to tell me that I shouldn’t, that she’d seen the way you looked at me and not to allow it to happen. She claimed that us having sex would bring about the unleashing of a force the world is not ready for. 

“I thought she was insane, just a raving lunatic of a stranger, but I now cannot help but wonder whether she might have been right? No, forget I said anything. The surging of the fire whenever we’re together like that is what caused me to wonder, but that could just be because you’re incredible. As am I,” she replied, Geralt laughing a little through his nose.

“And oh so modest,” he replied dryly. “As for the woman, did she wear a red cape, by chance?”

“Yes! That’s her! Why did she say anything to you?” Rin replied enthusiastically, Geralt shaking his head.

“She didn’t. She did sit there staring at us for a while. She was likely as you assimilated at the time, merely a raving lunatic. I think if we were about to unleash such a force, it’d be more cataclysmic than almost burning an inn bedroom down.” His words made sense, of course they did. It was just the kind of logic she needed to put the idea out of her mind. Until, that was, she saw her again. 

“Rin, where are you going?” Geralt asked a week later as they approached Loc Grim, after witnessing her suddenly turn Blanche and gallop off to the left.

“Red cape woman!” she called back.

“Wait here.” He instructed Riley before following along after her. He watched the woman cover the ground at a speed that wasn’t normal, holding out her hands and opening a portal before jumping into it, Rin having to pull Blanche up to a skidding halt, lest be sucked into it as well. 

“So, our mystery woman is a mage,” Geralt commented as he halted Roach at her side.

“Which means there could be credence to what she warned me of, don’t you think? Now we know she isn’t a woman who has taken leave of a few faculties,” Rin stated, watching him look unmoved by such. 

“Some of the most insane tales I’ve ever heard have come from the mouths of mages, and it doesn’t necessarily guarantee any truth. Look, the sky above is still blue, the grass is green, our world remains as normal prior to us fucking. I see no evidence for panic.” Again, she couldn’t argue against such logic. 

It didn’t mean Rin would simply forget all about her or the words she’d spoken though. 


	10. Chapter 10

“Well, now I have a payment much greater than I was expecting, I think I’m going to leave heading to Winneburg and instead make a detour to Castel Graupian. There’s a whore there who does things with her mouth that should be considered unlawful, so I shall catch up to you in a few weeks. 

“Rin, it was a pleasure to hunt with you. Our paths will no doubt cross again in the future.” Riley said as he mounted Ed outside the Emperor’s compound, their hunt for the basilisks now completed. They bid him goodbye before turning to one another, Geralt giving her a suggestive look. 

“Shall we find an inn to abscond to for a few days before we part?” He proposed, Rin looking keen.

“Hmmm, that isn’t the worst suggestion I’ve ever heard.” They rode for the border of Winneburg, finding an inn just before nightfall and spending the entire night enjoying one another before the tiredness of their long journey exhausted them into sleep. 

They only planned on remaining there for a few days, their stay eventually extending beyond a week, but not for any kind of favourable reasons. Sadly for them, there was a virus going around the small village, both of them coming down with it and being too ill to move. 

“I have to be empty now. I haven’t eaten anything in over a day. If I vomit again, it’ll likely be something I need, like my fucking liver,” she joked darkly, lying down again and reaching out to touch his forehead. “You’re still hot.” She noted, Geralt nodding.

“As are you, which for someone who has an elevated body temperature already is quite a thing. You’re like sleeping next to a furnace,” he commented, groaning when shooting pains wracked his stomach again. 

“Sorry, shall I get another room so you’re more comfortable?” she offered, Geralt shaking his head.

“No need. Nothing short of lying down in a pile of snow could make me feel truly more comfortable right now. Besides, I’d get bored.” One upshot to enduring sickness together was the fact they got to know each other much better, finding they shared a lot of common ground. 

“So, Rin. I’ve never heard that name before. Is it short for something?” he inquired later that night, after they’d cooled down by taking a cold bath in turn, feeling better for that moment. 

“Catherine. No one has ever called me by such though, except maybe my parents. Omnir Kalflax, the one who collected me from the orphanage always called me Rin, and it stuck,” she told him, sipping from her beaker of water as she sat cross legged next to him, enjoying the plentiful breeze coming in through the window. 

“Do you remember that time, before you were taken to Rholkrhaden Island?” he then asked, Rin shaking her head.

“Not really. I have a few hazy memories, but nothing that serves as a clear picture. What about you?” Taking the beaker from her he took a gulp before handing it back, sitting up a little more. 

“A few, but much like you they aren’t clear, only very vague flashes. I was left at Kaer Morhen as a young child by my mother, Visenna. I only truly remember everything that followed. The life I have is literally all I’ve ever known, the pursuit of becoming what I am and living it,” he shared, Rin nodding. 

“Me too. I find it strange to think of any other life, considering what I might be had my parents not died in that storm, who I’d have ended up as. I struggle. I am what I am.” Feeling water rising in her throat, she took a few deep breaths and then held it, waiting for the moment to pass while Geralt spoke. 

“I identify with such heavily. It’s difficult to imagine any other life when you’ve only had one option presented to you. Are you okay?” She didn’t reply, shaking her head as her already pale face seemed to lose more colour.

He timed reaching for the bucket just right, putting it in front of Rin just as she brought up a stomach full of water and bile, sighing heavily as she then took it to empty out of the window. “I am utterly fed up. So, you mention a mother there. Did you ever know her later in life? I take it you must have since you know her name.” 

“I met her once. I was wounded beyond my own capabilities to heal, so she looked after me for a short time. There were no feelings of kinship there, not for either of us. She was very young when she gave birth to me, sorceresses rarely make competent mother’s either.

“Bearing that in mind I told her I didn’t harbour any resentment towards her for giving me up. She didn’t seem to care if I did either way though. We were just two people, connected by blood but no bonds of affection whatsoever,” he explained, realising that this was more detail than he’d ever shared with anyone before, apart from Riley. 

It was strange, how Rin had easily become a friend to him in the space of a few short months. He found her no nonsense attitude vert easy to get along with though, noticing that the unsavoury attitude that had caused his initial dislike of her greatly mellowed. She’d made him laugh when she revealed she always was happier when she was getting laid regularly.

“So, who did she name you after? It isn’t a common name, Geralt,” she then asked him, Geralt smiling a little. 

“It’s my chosen name. Well, originally it was Geralt Roger Eric du Haute-Bellegarde, but Vesemir informed me such was silly and pretentious,” he confided, Rin bursting out laughing with mirth.

“I am inclined to agree with this Vesemir fellow! Geralt of Rivia is much better, it suits you. As does white wolf, it sums up your nature, I feel,” she told him, taking a few deep breaths before sitting back down again. 

“I was young. That is my chosen defence and I’m sticking to it.” He told her, poking her wrist with his finger. Going from too hot to a sudden chill, he pulled the blankets around himself, trying to get comfortable as he trembled. He couldn’t get warm though, not until Rin assisted, moving to lie on top of him, her superior warmth easing the chill immediately.

“Not that I’m complaining for such assistance, but shan’t you become too hot now?” He asked, Rin looking up and shrugging. 

“I have the breeze. I’m going to try and sleep anyway. Maybe you should do the same since neither of us has slept much in the past five days.” He agreed this was a good idea, feeling soothed by her warmth as he closed his eyes and drifted off. 

When he awoke, it was to a quivering Rin attempting to get under the blankets with him, looking pained as she visibly shook. He lifted them and covered her up, turning to wrap her in a warm embrace she sank into, grateful for the extra warmth. 

“Thank you.” She spoke quietly, still trembling. Resting her head against his chest she was asleep in moments, Geralt drifting off again too. 

When they both awoke the following morning after managing to sleep for many hours, both were feeling markedly better at last, able to at least keep water down. Neither was brave enough to try food until the following day though. 

Whereas Geralt seem to improve, Rin succumbed to further sickness, although she at least felt well enough to actually leave. The innkeeper’s wife gave her a tonic before she left, kindly informing her that it had helped her daughter from suffering the same flaring up of the virus once more, Rin grateful to her. 

“So, this is where we part, my ember friend. Where do you head to now?” Geralt asked as they sat atop their horses, ready to ride away. 

“I think further north. I’ll leave Winneburg to you and Riley, whenever he returns and head to Darn Ruach. It’s been a good time; I thank you for it. Trust that the next time we meet, I hope for us to be naked soon after.” She winked at him, Geralt smiling as she gave him a little wave, turning Blanche and riding away. 

It took two weeks to reach Winneburg, Geralt tracking Riley down when he arrived, of course expecting he’d likely arrived beforehand since he’d been delayed by illness. 

Once there, he threw himself into the work they found, glad to be back on his feet and at full strength, rather than lying in bed feeling like death, with a beautiful woman he couldn’t even fuck. He had, however, enjoyed talking with her, becoming closer friends. 

He actually missed her presence for a few weeks, until the memory of the ember faded a little for him and more women took her place. Each one was unnotably dull in comparison though, none of them left him as sexually entranced as she had. For that reason, she remained in the back of his mind like a prickly little thorn that poked him every so often. 

“Here, get this down your neck. The whole village owes you both a debt beyond coin for removing those werewolves. To Geralt and Riley, finest witchers of the Continent!” the tavern mistress toasted, holding up a measure of fire rum and knocking it back, Geralt and Riley doing the same, enjoying the burn of the strong alcohol. 

“Thanks, Maxime,” Geralt replied, smiling at her with an appreciative glance. He always enjoyed the dark haired, blue eyed woman whenever he was passing through the small village about ten miles north of Darn Ruach, knowing from the look she returned that he’d definitely be warming her bed come the night. Or, so he thought. 

“Baldie! Come over here and have a drink!” Riley suddenly announced, Geralt turning to of course see Rin walking towards them. She took the fire rum and downed it in one, giving Riley a warm slap on the back in thanks before she took a deep breath. 

“Geralt, I need to borrow you for a second. Alone,” she told him, jerking her head back towards the door. 

“She wastes no time, this one. Nobody go outside! Unless you’re dirty and want a live sex show, then by all means,” Riley trailed off, people laughing as ever at his comic fortitude. The joke didn’t land with Rin though, who just looked tense. 

“What’s wrong?” Geralt asked, picking up on it immediately. Again she made a motion to the door, both of them leaving without further word. “So why do you look like you’re about to vomit? Surely the virus has cleared by now, or do you need our help, to take you to a healer?” he further questioned as soon as they were outside. 

“No, it isn’t that. Look, I’m just going to come out with it, but please, know this isn’t easy for me. What I’m about to say goes against everything I thought possible, but I promise you I do not lie. It’s unbelievable, but you must believe it. I’m with child. Your child, to be precise.” 

Whatever Geralt had expected her to say, it hadn’t been that.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...is anyone out there? I honestly expected some kind of reaction over the revelation at the end of the last chapter. I hoped this would be as popular as my last work, but sadly appears that this isn't to be. I'll keep posting for a few more chapters, but if no further interest becomes apparent in the form of commentary, I guess I'll delete it. This is why I left tumblr, from lack of interest. I'm not moaning or begging for reviews at all, just speaking straight and honestly. If it isn't being enjoyed then that's absolutely fine, I can't write brilliant stories every time and I'll just put this one to bed and call it a day. 
> 
> Thanks to those who have left commentary, though. I appreciate you more than you know.

“That is absolutely, one hundred percent, utterly impossible, Rin. It couldn’t have been me, I’m completely infertile, you know this,” he told her, unsure why the fuck she was trying to lay responsibility at his door, but feeling pissed off that she’d attempted such at all. 

“I know, I know that for all intents and purposes this pregnancy absolutely shouldn’t be, but you’re the only man I’ve been with in months. I’ve missed my bleed for two moons now, you’re the father, Geralt.” He wouldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it, shaking his head as a frown creased his forehead.

“You’re lying, you’re trying to make me responsible for some other man’s mistake and I won’t fucking let you do that, Rin. Did you honestly think such would work? I’ve been infertile for fucking decades, it just isn’t possible so why, for the love of the gods have you concocted a plan so fucking stupid?” he shouted, becoming angry with her. 

“Look, I know expecting you to be immediately acquiescent to this news is a lot, if not too much to ask, but see what you’ve just said is exactly why I wouldn’t make this up, or try to pin it on you should this child that I carry not be yours! 

“I know how ridiculous it sounds, I’ve done nothing but mull over how the fuck this came to be when your bollocks and their contents are purely ornamental. Why would I make this a thousand times harder for myself in coming to tell you that unless I drink a beaker full of milk of arran root, you’re going to be a father? Why would I do that when it’s so inconceivable?” She yelled, a few people walking past stopping to look. 

Milk of arran root was a powerful tonic used to bring about a miscarriage, aborting a foetus relatively painlessly and quickly. It was an option Rin had weighed up for the last week heavily since her second absent bleed had failed to happen, pointing at only one conclusion. It was far from logical though. It was absolutely impossible, yet it had happened. 

It hadn’t felt right though, to go ahead with such without tracking Geralt down, as she had been doing a couple of weeks since missing her first bleed. She had to tell him, but also she knew her news was likely to be disbelieved. Still, it made his angry reaction no easier. 

“You’re fucking lying! Stop with your foolishness and fuck off back to wherever you came and to whomever got you into the current predicament you’re attempting to palm off upon me.” He roared at her, just as Riley came outside after hearing their raised voices. 

“Whatever is the purpose of all this shouting? Geralt come back, Rin, are you? Oh for fucks sake. You’ve made her cry!” He called after his friend, Geralt neither caring nor ceasing in his need to put distance between himself and her in that moment. 

He could have laughed at her ridiculousness, yet somewhere deep down, something told him she wasn’t lying. This, however, he was not prepared to deal with just yet. 

“Rin, why the tears?” Riley asked, the ember feeling ridiculously embarrassed as he pulled her into a hug, saving her shame a little and letting her cry against the privacy of his chest. 

Her pregnancy hormones had just started to run wild, the sight of a baby deer suckling from its mother making her burst out crying the day before. For someone who couldn’t remember ever shedding emotional tears before, it was quite unsettling to her. 

She explained it all to him, Riley listening to everything even though it was mostly with a very wide-open mouth and eyes the size of teacup saucers, floored by her news completely. His reaction was in stark contrast to Geralt’s though, luckily for her. 

“I believe you, Rin. As ludicrous as it all sounds, I know you wouldn’t have put yourself through telling someone as fucking cantankerous as Geralt, who took the news exactly as you predicted he would, should you not be telling the truth. Look, go inside and get yourself a drink, I’ll sort him out. Here,” he told her, pushing some coins into her hand.

“No. It’s fine, Riley. I have money,” she tried to protest, the witcher shaking his head. 

“Let me, go on. Go sit down, aren’t pregnant women supposed to be frequently tired? You go inside and I’ll be back as soon as I can talk some sense into him.” Kissing her forehead, Riley then left to run after Geralt, who was no longer in sight, leaving Rin to go inside and request a mug of the hot cider she could smell. 

It was with jangling nerves and great trepidation that she waited, taking a seat in the corner and sighing. What a mess this all was. If there was one breed of man you didn’t have to worry about getting pregnant from, it was a witcher.

Apparently Geralt wasn’t as sterile as he’d thought, perhaps there was a minute chance he could father children and this was the tiny percentage revealing itself? Rin didn’t know, she just hoped that Riley could calm him down enough so they could have an adult conversation about where to go from there. 

“Fuck off, Riley,” the man himself warned, sitting on a large fallen tree to the edge of the small woodland he’d walked off to. 

“No, I won’t bloody fuck off!” he began, sitting down next to him. “You’ve left a pregnant woman in tears back there. Where’s your fucking honour?” he spat, not impressed by his friend’s actions. He did understand the reaction though, because the news was absolutely unbelievable.

“I have no honour when I am being willingly lied to. I won’t be deceived by her, you shouldn’t let yourself either,” he stated firmly, turning to view Riley with his jaw set in anger. 

“Geralt, come on. This is you we’re talking about here. You’re not exactly the most amiable person in the world and Rin absolutely would have known exactly how hostile you would react towards such news, which begs the question why would she make this so difficult for herself if you truly weren’t the father of her baby? 

“I have no fucking idea how such an impossible occurrence actually came to be. A wiser, greater man than I would have to answer that perplexing puzzle for you, but surely you realise that she’s not lying to you by that fact alone?” He put to him, Geralt sighing and running a hand over his face.

“I don’t know. Can you leave me here for a while? I’ll return when I’m ready. I need my own company, no one else inflicting themselves upon either my space or my thoughts.” Riley nodded, grasping his shoulder in a supportive gesture and getting up to leave him to it. Knowing him for as long as he had, he knew if he stayed he’d likely make the situation a million times worse. 

He could have chimed in with further thoughts, but he’d told him the most important part. Now was the time to leave Geralt be. Truly, it wasn’t any of his business to impose himself further into this, but once back at the tavern he was a friendly ear for Rin, the young woman riddled with anxiety so much that her hands tremored. 

“Do you know what you shall do yet?” he asked, referring of course to the fate of the tiny life she carried within.

“Alas not. My first thoughts were to just deal with it, drink milk of arran root and get on with my life, but that option didn’t feel right. I couldn’t get rid of a baby fathered by a man who didn’t think he ever could. That guilt would have eaten away at me too much, so I knew I had to track him down. I could regret doing so, but I don’t,” she confided, Riley nodding and taking a swig of fire rum. 

“I can see how you’d think that. You’re young, you’re an ember. Neither of these things exactly go hand in hand with motherhood. Then again, who says you have to be conventional? You make good money, you could hire some kind of baby nurse to travel with you, should you decide to go keep it. That isn’t for me to suggest though. Sorry. It isn’t my business,” Riley replied, waving his hand dismissively.

“No, you’re only trying to be helpful. I see this and thank you for it. I hadn’t considered that to be an option. Would you mind awfully if we changed the subject though? I need a distraction while I await Geralt’s return. If he returns. Tell me all about the whore who did criminal things with her mouth.” 

She then played captive audience to Riley’s salacious tales of the whore house, laughing for the first time in weeks as he regaled her with his stories. He didn’t speak exclusively of sex though, also telling her of his faux pas when out on a job, searching for a Bruxa who almost outwitted him. 

“See you can just throw fire at them and boom, job done. Burning them is effective, but that screech! Lords, I thought my ears were about to explode as I went flying from one side of the river to the other, the fucking thing swerving the Quen I tried to stop her noise with. Thank fuck for silver swords. I was grateful to take her head that morning, I can tell you,” he explained, Rin nodding.

“They’re my least favourite of the vampires, those and the night stalkers. Even for us and our superior hearing, we don’t hear them coming until they’re right there on top of us. I remember one I encountered up in Cintra, I actually smelled it first because it was half rotten. 

“It took me days to get the stench off me and out of my clothes. People wouldn’t let me in their establishments. In the end a kind corn merchant let me bathe in an outdoor trough he used to water his horses while his wife soaked my clothes to remove the smell. It was foul!” she told him, Riley laughing heartily. 

Indeed, the stench of the night stalker, a breed of vampire who remained immortal but also succumbed to the rotting process, was disgusting. He’d fallen foul of it a few times himself. He was glad he could lift her spirits a little, enjoying their conversation for a few hours, until the return of Geralt brought such to a halt. 

He stood by the tavern door, making a face that said he wished to speak to her alone, Rin squeezing Riley’s hand and thanking him for looking after her before she got up and left. 

“Have you calmed down now?” She asked, watching him nodding. 

“I apologise for accusing you of lying to me, Rin. I think what both you and Riley stated in saying that I wouldn’t be the easiest person to give such news to, therefore why would you bother if such were not true has sealed it for me. I do believe you,” he said, resting his hands to her shoulders. 

“So now we can at least discuss where we go from here. Firstly though, I confess, I would like to put you to other use if I may? Pregnancy it seems, has left me with the kind of elevated libido that has seen me having to relieve my frustrations at least four times a day by my own hand. It would be nice if it could be by someone else’s for once,” she confided, Geralt raising an eyebrow. 

“How about a mouth?” he suggested.

“Even better.” With that, they walked the short way to the inn he was staying at, both content to delay the inevitable discussion for a while by enjoying the act that had led them to their predicament in the first place.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness, thank you so much for such lovely thoughts, guys! You've given me the confidence to continue posting this now that I know it has a regular little audience. I look forward to reading your further thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

The removal of their clothes was an exquisite dance of anticipation in itself, Rin running her tongue over the centre of his abs as she sat on the bed, absolutely ravenous for him. She’d heard of pregnant women craving sex, but always assumed it was further along in the pregnancy, once the feeling of perpetual sickness had passed.

Was it truly because her hormones were going wild though, or was it simply because she’d craved the touch of the most illicitly pleasing lover she’d ever known? Either way, she was pleased to be reunited with him, undoing his trousers as his hands stroked her peach tresses, dying to free what tented them into her eager mouth. 

“I thought this was going to be the other way around,” he commented, a shuddered breath leaving his mouth as her lips wrapped around the bulbous head of his cock. 

“Are you honestly complaining about being on the receiving end of a blow job, from me of all people?” She asked, stroking his shaft as she kissed his hip.

“Shut up, Geralt.” He told himself, winking at her when she smiled, laughing through her nose before going back to continue pleasing him. 

His hands tangled further in her hair as her mouth slipped down over his steely hardness, encasing him in wet heat, already having him more aroused than the efforts of the three women he’d been with since her combined. She truly was sexual magic. 

Feeling the thick veins filling and emptying as her lips pressed against them, Rin moved her tongue in flicking motion on the underside of his shaft at the same time, hands sliding around to grasp his perfectly toned bum and squeezing the muscular cheeks, encouraging him to start fucking her mouth. 

The pace remained steady for a few minutes, Rin smacking him hard on the backside and receiving a curious look and highly arched eyebrow from him in response, trying to remember if a woman had ever done that to him before. It wasn’t unpleasant at all though. Neither was watching her trying to smile with a mouthful of his cock.

Her cheeks hollowed as she added suction to the mix, Gerallt feeling himself tipped further and further into an abyss of consuming pleasure, his hands tightening in her hair as he panted, watching his cock sliding in and out of her mouth. 

Each breath became shallower, a tightness spready through his groin as unbelievably, he could feel his release beginning to spark already, amazed by her talent, moving faster within her mouth. 

When she began to moan, her nails grazing his lower back, his hips shot forward so forcefully he was afraid he might choke her, his seed spilling down her throat as he growled through clenched teeth, Rin swallowing back every drop as she slowed her mouth. 

“Your turn, temptress.” He told her, picking her up by her waist and gently throwing her back onto the bed, reminding himself he couldn’t throw her around as he had before, for what grew in her womb. His child. Gods, it made his mind boggle, a fate he never thought possible suddenly becoming a reality.

Stroking her nakedness as they kissed, he relished in the feeling of her hot skin pressed to his, shifting to take in her bareness. Her breasts were swollen, her nipples a touch darker too, each pink bud becoming the focal point of his tongue. 

“Don’t squeeze too hard. They’re very tender.” She told him, Geralt backing off the flex of his fingers around her beautiful mounds, kissing her cleavage before his mouth descended. 

The heat of his lips teased the prospect of his tongue, kissing her bare pubic mount as his fingers stroked her slit, opening her up and making her clit stand out before he finally brought his tongue to it. 

Little shimmers skittered through her, her body jolting at the contact she’d craved as she was licked languidly, Geralt tasting her thoroughly as he opened his eyes to watch her writhe joyously. The moan of relief that left her as he flattened his tongue to capture as much wet, pink flesh as he could was more of a howl, her hips rising off the bed. 

“Is that better?” he asked, of course knowing the answer already.

“Oh, don’t you dare stop!” Her words amused him, delivered between her unashamed moans, her hands losing themselves in his hair before one fell to grip his robust forearm, while he continued to lay long, slow licks from her opening to her clit, kissing it, sucking for a few seconds and then repeating. 

She twisted against him, shaking when he blew on her little bud, cooling her down again before his tongue began to lick once more, stoking the fire in her groin, pleasure licking her spine. She burned brightly for him to her very bones, panting as his tongue quickened, boring into her, her cunt beginning to absolutely stream for him. 

The summer sun poured in through the windows, gilding her beautiful body in loveliest of golden glows as he continued to watch her react to his mouth, stroking her thighs as she arched and shook. 

Her wetness flowed onto his tongue as he ate at her greedily, without pause, feeling her dampening his chin and upper lip as he buried his mouth against her, taking an entire mouthful of her cunt and sucking heartily. 

“Fuck, you’re so incredibly wet.” He grunted, panting against her thigh as he kissed it, wiping his mouth before bringing his hand to her, teeth nipping her flesh as his fingers sank into her. Her breath caught in her throat at the sudden intrusion, illumination beckoned by the stroke of his fingertips within her velvet walls, making her cry out.

“Please, please just fuck me. I need your cock, right now.” She demanded, almost deliriously, Geralt never before witnessing her so shamelessly needy for him, absolutely at his mercy. For this encounter, she was happy enough to let him be in charge, it would seem. 

Kneeling before her, he pulled her body up so she was tilted against his thick thighs, steadily feeding his length into her hungry wetness, feeling her drip onto his legs. A groan of appreciation left his mouth as he felt her stretching around him, accommodating him, enveloping him completely in hot sumptuousness.

Her cunt flexed wildly around him, Rin panting with her mouth agape as he stilled in her only for a second, withdrawing to drive back into her with force that made her mouth drop even further open, her head tipping back as she wailed, finally feeling what she’d so desperately desired. 

The rhythm he then established drove her out of her mind, slowly, deliberately dragging his cock from her to pound it back in, causing her sweet anticipation of each surging re-entrance, the hard thrusts making tingles flood her groin. 

He then gave her a few harder thrusts, boring himself into her as his hands clutched her thighs, alternating again to withdrawing his entire length and slamming it back inside her, literally feeling his cock bouncing against such springy, wet flesh. 

The third alternation of pace came in him deliciously rotating his hips once inside her to the hilt, making her eyes roll back in her head as she screamed over and over, starting from the beginning again and having her at his mercy completely.

“Oh, you utter sexual demon,” Rin wailed, a hiss leaving her mouth when his thumb moved to trace a circle at her clit.

“Guilty as charged.” He replied, not refuting her assessment whatsoever. He knew what he excelled at. Her cunt was absolutely pouring with her gloss, saturating them both and puddling the bed, undoubtedly the wettest woman he’d ever been inside of. 

She was absolute ecstasy to him, her back arching off the bed, the rest of her body following as she sat up, Geralt catching her neatly in his arms as he growled with lust, kissing her hotly as she began grinding down on his length. 

The heat between them was overwhelming, so scintillating a connection, Rin’s fiery irises staring into the golden amber of his, lit up for him, kissing him urgently as his hands slid down her back and grasped her buttocks, pulling her closer. 

They chased their releases avidly, stroking, kissing, licking, grinding, biting, still continuing gently as they basked in the afterglow, calming down as the shared ecstasy ebbed away. 

“I suppose we should discuss this now,” Rin broached, after they’d enjoyed silence for a few minutes, both now recovered from the dizzying heights their sex had elevated them to. 

“You’re right, we should. I think we have to be logical above all and ask ourselves what kind of parents we’d make, bringing a child into the lives we live. I always believed my alleged sterility was a blessing for that reason alone. Would we be cut out to care for a child?” he questioned, Rin nodding in agreement. 

“Also, the fact that we’re not in a relationship would make things very unconventional too, just two friends – and very new ones at that – raising a child together would be difficult. It’d be a big commitment to one another, to bring a baby into this,” she mused, feeling very conflicted. “But you see then, there’s a side of me that cannot deny how miraculous the occurrence of this baby is.”

“Which is what I struggle with too. I don’t have any answers over how it came to be, so I almost feel like I am unprepared to make a decision until I have them. Does that make sense?” he asked.

“Yes! You’ve just worded my thoughts exactly. I think I know who could give us those answers though, it’d mean travelling up to Eiddon to seek an audience with her though.” Geralt knew to whom she referred instantly. 

“Enillah of Eiddon. I suppose if there is one person upon the Continent who can explain how this child came to be, it’d be her.” Enillah of Eiddon was a centuries old sorceress, a witch who had remained youthful for thousands of years before embracing her crone phase, as she referred to it as. She was eccentric and slightly mad, but never, ever incorrect. 

Her wisdom was renowned, so come the morning it was this wisdom Geralt and Rin set off in search of, Riley parting in his own direction to continue his work, knowing they likely needed time together to process it all. 

As they rode, Geralt kept looking over at her every so often, the thought ‘she’s the mother of my child’ echoing through his head, a child he still wasn’t certain he actually wanted or not. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I've been MIA for a few days, guys. I have been super busy since Friday but finally found the time to pop on and update. I'll leave a couple of chapters to make up for it!

“You look sleepy,” Geralt commented, Rin yawning right on cue. It was four days on from him learning her news, the pair arriving in Eiddon the previous evening. The sun was just about to rise, their early start down to needing to be at the hollow that lead to Enillah’s lair, ready and waiting for the crone to rise. 

To request an audience with her, all one had to do was arrive before sunrise and await her emergence, upon which she would make her choice over who she would see that day. 

“I could have done with a little more rest, yes. Growing another person is exhausting work, it seems,” she replied, yawning again. She supposed it didn’t help matters that they indulged in fireside sex all evening into the early hours either, but Geralt was nothing short of addictive. It couldn’t be helped. 

“We’ll find an inn somewhere later so you can sleep more. I truly do mean sleep; in other words, I shall leave you there and go seek work so neither of us are tempted by one another.” He put to her, Rin smiling as she nodded, telling him it sounded a good idea.

“Now you look something else entirely. I’ll hold Blanche,” he commented as the deep breaths Rin took did nothing to quell the rising tide of nausea within her, dismounting her mare at speed to vomit into the grass. “You were right, it was too good to last.” 

Rin had commented earlier in the morning that it was nice not to awake feeling sick for once, her morning sickness seeming to subside in severity, but also stating to Geralt it was likely a case of too good to be true. She’d been correct, although with how awful she began to feel, she really wished she hadn’t been. 

“Better?” Geralt asked after she climbed aboard Blanche again, swilling her mouth with water from her flask. 

“I’d curse you for putting me in this predicament, but we both know I have an addiction to the beast you have within those trousers, so therefore you cannot be blamed entirely.” She replied, finally laughing a little when she saw the size of Geralt’s grin. Oh, he was so smug at hearing her assessment. 

They arrived soon after, seeing a small group already communed at the hollow, the sun gilding the horizon as it began to rise. A few more people arrived, everyone waiting patiently and chatting between themselves before the wizened sorceress made her appearance. 

It was clear she had once been a beauty, her green eyes sparkling as she emerged from the hollow, shaking a little ground dust from her dress with a furious clatter of her many bracelets. Her hair touched the back of her knees, dreadlocked and grey, adorned with silver beads. 

“You, child. You first,” she began, pointing at a small, sickly looking child present with her parents as she hobbled through the people, casting her eyes around. “You next,” she spoke after some silence, pointing to a young man. 

On her choices went as she reached the back of the group, stopping in front of Geralt and Rin, nodding. “You shall be my last for the day. It’ll take some time, explaining all which surrounds the babe in your belly, Rin of Rholkrhaden. She who walked through the fire and did not scream. Geralt, good to see you again.” Turning, she then walked back towards her hollow, Rin raising her eyebrows. 

“How does she know my name?” she whispered, not realising her notoriety stretched quite this far.

“I know all, child.” Enillah called, before re-entering the hollow with the first of her visitors. They were in for a long wait, the man before them not being seen until after midday, taking the horses down to the nearby stream to drink before coming back to continue awaiting their turn. 

“Come now.” Enillah eventually told them, Geralt and Rin leaving their mares to graze while they entered the hollow, the first visit there for Rin, although Geralt had been before. Under the ground, the space was much more plentiful than she’d expected, tree roots weaving through what was essentially a gigantic burrow, stars both created and suspended by magic twinkling at the top. 

All around there were bottles and jars, plants and strange looking ornaments, candles dotted around the surfaces in various states of melted. 

“So, you seek answers over how this baby came to be. May I?” Enillah asked after they’d sat down, gesturing towards Rin’s stomach. 

“Yes, go ahead.” The witch then lifted the sleeveless tunic she wore, placing her hands to her stomach and concentrating, nodding a few times. “Ahhh, yes. Yes.” She muttered to herself before pulling up a seat before them. “It’s your fire, all which fortified you as an ember and made you what you are. That’s what caused it, awakening seemingly dead seed. This is how she came to be.”

“She?” Rin asked, her voice soft and whispery. How on earth could she even…ah yes. She knew all.

“Yes, you carry a daughter. One of great significance too, as she will turn out to be, should you continue your pregnancy. You have doubts, both of you. Of course, I know this,” she explained, the ember and witcher before her nodding. 

“What is this great significance you speak of?” Geralt asked, Enillah holding up her finger in indication he should wait, reaching for a small, red crystal and rolling it in her palms before holding it to Rin’s stomach and waiting. When she took it away, it was grey in colour.

“Hmmmm, not a clear indication,” she muttered, again more to herself than her guests. “Her significance comes from her power, which of course she’s inherited from her parents, being what you are, the changes your physiology was subjected to. She is the first of her kind and will possess the kind of powers the world has yet to see. I take it the red cloaked woman warned you already?”

Rin felt herself go cold and tingly all over at hearing her words, finally having everything slot into place. The warning, the unleashing of a force the world is not ready for was her child. “She did, yes. I didn’t put any credence into what she told me though,” she confessed, Enillah nodding.

“You perhaps should have, for she will be difficult, this babe of yours. She will challenge you, her power must be harnessed, contained. She has to be taught to contain it, or she’ll become dangerous to all of us, even her mother and father. It is possible, it can be done,” she began, before sighing and looking stern. 

“That won’t be your greatest worry for a while though. It’s the Sanctuary of the Blessed you must be concerned over, for they will stop at nothing to make sure she doesn’t arrive, or if she does, she doesn’t live. They’re a very secretive organisation, but they’re responsible for the premature deaths of many a witcher over the centuries, of course they’ve now focused themselves upon you embers in recent years too.

“They aren’t fond of any kind other than human, save a few mages they use to do their bidding here and there, but mutants such as yourselves are enemy number one for these bigoted fools. Well, now she is, now they know she exists. The woman in the red cape did come to you honestly when she warned you, she would have been beheaded for her deceit towards the Sanctuary had her warning you been discovered. 

“The power your daughter will one day possess could wipe them out completely, eradicate them entirely. They cannot let such a threat to them go uncontained. The three of you will have targets upon your back, they will hunt you down, mark my words. I can, of course, make all of this go away, much faster than arran root too. Drink this and the child is gone,” she offered at the end of her long explanation, holding out a small, purple vial. 

Without even thinking, Rin instinctively rested a protective hand to her belly, everything now seeming all the more real to her as she felt a lump rise in her throat. Could she do it? Hearing she had a daughter somehow made it different for her, ridiculous as it sounded. The tiny beginnings of her baby had an identity. 

“Well, you’ve certainly given us a lot to consider. May I come back for that? I am unsure what choice I wish to take yet,” Rin replied, Enillah taking her hand and placing the vial in it.

“Take it with you. You can always pour it away, should your choice be motherhood. It shan’t be easy, but it shall be worth it.” They left soon after, with a lot to consider. Neither really spoke much until they arrived at the first inn they came across, both sitting down on the bed after sorting their horses out first. 

“Are you any clearer over how you wish to proceed with this?” Geralt asked, Rin shaking her head. 

“No, I’m not. On the one hand, she’s a rarity, a tiny little miracle child who shouldn’t be, but because of my fire, she is. That in itself is incredible. There’s just so much that stands against us, her power and trying to contain such, becoming targets of this Sanctuary of the Blessed as well as a result of that and everything we previously discussed too. 

“I know we need to decide soon as well, we can’t procrastinate. We have to figure this out. What about you? Do you have any idea what we should do?” she asked, Geralt closing his eyes for a few moments, sighing.

“My head says don’t go ahead with it; it’ll be too dangerous, too difficult. However, my heart tells me something entirely different.” They talked a little more before Rin undressed and got into bed, Geralt leaving her to sleep as planned. 

He had said he would look for work, but found he couldn’t focus on anything other than the predicament he was in, whether or not to become a father to a child that would truly be like no other. 

He rode around all day, stopping at night and building a fire, deciding to camp out instead of returning. He needed his own space, to not be influenced by Rin at all although he very much understood the final decision was something they had to reach together, with no separation. 

Could they really make it work, raising their child together without actually being together? Again, he was seeking the answer to a question he never thought he’d have to ask of himself. He had so many questions, more it seemed than prior to their visit to the crone.

He felt like he needed more time as he drifted off to sleep, awaking to sunshine but realising soon he was in a dream, in a place far from where he’d fallen asleep. Before him, he saw a wheat filled meadow, hearing laughter coming from the middle, the voices of a woman and a child. 

“Daddy!” He then heard, turning to see a little girl of about three years old running towards him, crouching to catch her in his arms. Studying her, he knew exactly who she was, with her white hair and her hazel eyes, her mother appearing from within the wheat, smiling at them. 

“It’s me! I’m here! And you need to shave. Daddy scratchy face,” she giggled, her little hands stroking his cheeks. 

“Do I?” he asked, baffled by her presence in his dream, quite overcome to see her. 

“Yes!” she shouted, throwing her arms around his neck. 

“Geralt,” Rin then said warningly, coming to their side and pointing into the distance. “Look.” His eyes scanned the horizon, watching as an army of men and women in red cloaks charged their horses towards them, brandishing weapons, mages among them throwing spells, nearing them rapidly. 

“Don’t let them take me, daddy. Promise you won’t!” The child in his arms pleaded, before suddenly he awoke, sitting up with a start and making a nearby Roach jump as she grazed under the morning sun. 

He barely felt like he’d slept at all, tiredness hanging in his head as he gathered his belongings and rode back to the inn. Stepping into the room quietly, he found Rin still sleeping, undressing and climbing into bed with her. 

He slipped his arm around her, resting his hand to her belly, his mind made up. When she stirred, covering his hand with hers, he knew she’d reached the same conclusion. 


	14. Chapter 14

“So, everything is normal, then?” Rin asked, after searching down a healer who also took care of pregnant women close to Eiddon and receiving a check over. She thought it might be too early, but the woman informed her she at least wanted to check her own health over, which would likely spell the baby was fine too.

“Yes, you’re in perfect health. I would like to advise that taking your profession into consideration you obviously must take precautions, never go out alone nor continue to hunt after your sixth month maximum as such could bring on early labour, which you obviously do not want. Here, for your sickness. This shall help.” 

Rin thanked her and left, feeling happy that she and her baby were fine but somewhat irked by the frosty treatment she’d received from the healer, who she could tell didn’t really want to see her at all and was solely motivated by coin. Not everyone was welcoming of embers though. Prejudice existed for them, as well as witchers. 

She revealed this to Geralt upon meeting him outside, having him take the bottle and remove the cork, sniffing the contents. “It’s fine, go ahead.” He confirmed, Rin taking swig. It certainly didn’t taste it. It did, however, stop her morning sickness almost instantly, although she wasn’t suffering it nearly as much as before. 

It then suddenly dawned upon her that she hadn’t even thought to check that bottle without thinking, feeling grateful for Geralt’s distrust in just about anyone where his unborn child was concerned. 

It would take her some getting used to, knowing she was to become a mother, a life she honestly hadn’t much thought about. She’d always assumed she might take a few years away from her profession at some point, have a few children and then return, but not for a long, long time. 

She never envisaged becoming a mother at twenty-three, the age she’d be when she gave birth come the following spring. It was a little scary when she contemplated that amount of pain, but then Geralt’s words reminded her that she was more than equipped to handle the agony of childbirth.

“I never knew that about you, what Enillah stated. You truly did not scream when you faced the trial by fire?” he asked as they walked back to the horses, ready to leave the village. 

“No. I willed myself not to. I groaned and made other such noises, but I held back the screams. Before I knew it, it had ceased to hurt though and I continued through the flames unburned. I was just thinking to myself that childbirth is likely to be a horrific experience, but if I’ve walked through fire, I think I should be able to handle pushing a baby out,” she told him, reaching Blanche and mounting up. 

“I believe you can. You’re perhaps the strongest woman I’ve ever met.” She took this as a big compliment, knowing that at eighty-two years old, Geralt must’ve met many strong women throughout his long life thus far. Truly though, he had no clue over Rin’s strength, but saw it manifesting further the more time he spent with her. 

“That was a very interesting method of dispatch,” he commented, watching the kikimore they were hunting fly through the air, missing its two front legs. 

“You’ve seen me do that before, with the minotaur,” she commented, nodding to over his shoulder where a second came running for them. 

“I have,” he began, beginning to do battle with the beast. “But these are about five times the size of a minotaur,” he continued, swerving it as he entered the swamp, managing to put a sword through it quite quickly, Rin sending her fire after the third. 

“Shall we go and celebrate a hunt well done once we’ve received our payment?” Rin asked, watching the beast as it was incinerated before them. 

“Yes, we shall,” he replied, pulling her against his chest and kissing her hungrily. 

“Also, I will require you to drink more of the potion that makes your eyes black. They’re so arousing to me.” She told him, stroking his face before kissing him once more. Being pregnant and perpetually in a state of craving sex had its advantages when travelling with someone like Geralt, ready to sate the mother of his child at a moment’s notice. 

Their payment meant the inn they chose that night was of higher class than most, requesting a bath to be taken to their room and prepared while they ate downstairs, Rin getting her fill of her only craving so far. Give her bread and butter and she would be happy as a pig in shit, eating five slices of it with her meal before gladly heading upstairs and slipping into the bathtub, Geralt behind her. 

“Are you soothed?” he asked, taking the sponge and bar of soap provided and lathering them, beginning to wash her back. 

“Much. I no longer smell of swamp.” She exclaimed in relief, chasing the wisps of steam rising from the water with her fingertips, enjoying the feeling of him rubbing the sponge across her shoulders.

It sometimes caught her by surprise, the intimate little moments they seemed to slip into, but then again, she was carrying his baby. She suspected there was an affection growing between them because of that rather than anything romantic. 

Once they were both soapy clean, she lay back against his chest and relaxed. Feeling her favourite part of his anatomy start to harden against her spine, she knew her rest period wouldn’t last for long. When she turned to view him and saw he’d surreptitiously drank another vial of the potion which blackened his eyes, it was by her choice that she didn’t want it to. 

Leaning forward, she kissed him with fervour, her hand trailing down his chest in a slow appreciation of his muscles before grasping his hardness and giving it a keen squeeze. His groan leapt from his mouth to hers, fingers running through her wet hair, the steam continuing to rise into the air all around them.

He spent a little time gently massaging her breasts, mindful that they were extremely tender at present before sliding his hands around to grasp her bum, massaging the cheeks in his big hands and pulling her closer to him. 

“Stand up,” he demanded, Rin moving her mouth to his neck.

“But what if I don’t want to?” she replied playfully, nipping his earlobe.

“Believe me, you’ll want to.” His tone made her cunt tighten in an instant, that deep voice the instigator of her arousal as it often was. Pushing her hands against the wooden sides, she stood up, Geralt moving to kneel in front of her as his hands slid up the back of her legs in a languid, sensuous glide. 

He let his mouth linger over her sex while his fingertips coaxed trembles from her thighs, tongue suddenly bestowing a quick lick against her slit, hands pulling her legs apart a little more, opening her up to him.

Continuing to stroke her, his range from the small of her back downwards, he finally invaded her slit with the flat of his tongue, wiggling it back and forth over her clit, the tip pushing against her opening. 

The dual stimulation, coupled with his fingertips evoking quivers wherever they trailed to had Rin gasping, her head tipped back, eyes shut as she felt his hands move to her front, stroking her breasts before chasing water droplets down her stomach. Just that alone made her arousal soar. 

His mouth encouraged the heat of her cunt to glow the most though, black eyes watching her intently. She began to rock her pelvis back and forth, sliding herself over his hot, wet tongue, delighting in the feel of little sparks gathering in her groin. 

He let her chase her pleasure by rubbing herself over his tongue, keeping it nestled deeply in her slit and relatively still, hearing her heartbeat quicken as she panted and groaned. Her fingers tangled in his hair, her hips juddering against his face as fire licked her spine, spreading all the way to her fingertips.

Since becoming pregnant, she’d noticed her body to be much more responsive to stimulation, her nerve endings ablaze as she felt her clit throb, knowing she was getting close. He began moving his tongue again in time with her motions, feeling her wetness seeping out into his mouth, groaning at her taste as he drove her closer, closer, closer…

“Fuck!” she screamed, coming with blinding force, Geralt wrapping his arms tightly around her shaky legs to steady her before standing and carrying her from the bath over to the bed. They didn’t even bother drying off, Rin pushing him back against the stack of pillows on the bed and climbing astride him. 

What followed was a small battle for dominance over the other, each manipulating the other in a series of movements to attain the upper hand, the bed creaking under the strain beneath them. If Geralt was honest, he did enjoy that she didn’t submit to him easily. 

“Oh, so this is how you think it’ll happen?” she questioned when he suddenly flipped her onto her back, managing to hold her there, containing her physical protests. 

“I know this is how it’ll happen. It’s been a while since I held you down, after all.” He began by encircling her arms and pinning them down above her head, his cock nudging her slippery entrance before sliding in effortlessly, her muscles hugging him with a strong squeeze of appreciation. 

Their bodies slid together deliciously, heated friction coruscating through them as they kissed urgently. He felt heavy within her, Geralt focusing his weight down in each concentrated thrust, every delivery strong, weighty and deliberately administered with the sole intent of having her in utter rapture. 

Letting go of his grip on her arms, he encircled both of her wrists with one hand instead, reaching between them to stroke her clit, fingertips circling as his cock hit the spot deep within her no other ever had. It was hot, it was frenzied, it was them. In bed, they worked incredibly. 

Later that night, in the early hours of the morning as he lay awake listening to the chirp of the cicadas outside the open window, Geralt turned to watch her as she slept, stroking a few wispy strands of hair away from her face, his thumb circling the apple affectionately. 

It was then that he first wondered whether the woman carrying his baby could ever be anything more to him. 


	15. Chapter 15

“Rin, it won’t bloody work! Would you just listen to reason, for once in your life?”

“Yes, it will! I’ve done it before!”

“Well, we’re not doing it now, not in this situation. Now, shut the fuck up and keep quiet, before they hear you. Do not go against me, let’s not have a repeat of the basilisk incident.”

It was moments like that, when she was being insufferably difficult over a plan of attack, that Geralt sneered at the very thought that she could be anything more to him, pissing him off as she did.

He knew it’d rear its ugly head again at some point, both of them being quite self-righteous, stubborn people, her more so than him though. This time she actually did listen to him, albeit begrudgingly.

She remembered her failing when he mentioned what had happened with the basilisk, realising to go against him here would be significantly more dangerous. Maybe he was right and she wrong, either way though they dispatched of the vampire nest quickly and efficiently, receiving a handsome payment for it.

As they were riding away from the homestead of the family who had hired them, cutting across the fields to return to the village they were staying at, they both suddenly got the feeling of being watched by many eyes.

Dismounting their horses, they drew their swords, on high alert as suddenly people carrying fiery torches emerged from the darkness all around, Rin casting her hands around them and encircling them with a protective barrier of fire.

“That abomination that you carry cannot remain, ember,” a man, a sorcerer so he revealed himself to be spoke, walking right through the flames. His skin was as black as night, his eyes all the way white, cutting an imposing figure at his colossal height.

Geralt threw an Axii at him, the sorcerer anticipating such and deflecting it before sending out his own magic, directed right at Rin. “It cannot remain!” He shouted strongly as she clutched her stomach, doubling over in agony.

The sorcerer then dealt with the immediate threat, holding out his other hand to physically disable Geralt from being able to either help her or harm him, the witcher utterly enraged as he fought against the magic binding him to the sport.

Rin screamed in pain, trying not to let fear flood her, remembering exactly who and what she was, this coupled with her instinct to protect her baby as she threw a fireball at him, the sorcerer then dodging it. It was exactly what she wanted though, her fire magic revealing itself as a flaming silhouette of herself stepping from the circle of fire, ensnaring him as it dragged him to his fiery death.

She then made the fire die down, both she and Geralt drawing their swords to do battle with the remaining men. It might have been eleven against two, but they were soon cut down by them, heads split in two, throats slashed, guts spilled.

It seemed they gravely underestimated the combined power of two beings both trained to fight as efficiently as they’d been, especially where protecting their unborn child was concerned.

“You, I will let you live, but only to carry a message back to the Sanctuary. Do not come for us, or we will slowly slaughter every last one of you. What I carry within me is no abomination, she is our child and we will be cold and dead before we allow any of you to harm her.

“You’ve witnessed what we’ve done here, know we are capable of worse. Remember it.” Rin spoke as she held the man at the tip of her sword, lowering it and stepping close to him, pressing her hand to his face and making him roar in agony as she burned him. “I am Rin of Rholkrhaden. You will fear me.”

With her handprint emblazoned onto his face, the man scuttled back and ran for his life, Rin frowning in his wake.

“I’ve never seen you unleash anything the likes of that before, nor the fire silhouette,” Geralt commented, resting his hand on her shoulder as he came to stand behind her.

“I keep my cards close to my chest,” she spoke, turning as she lovingly stroked her belly. He loved it when she did that, he found it very touching to see someone of such resolute and fortitude soften when it came to their child. “She’s okay too. I see the concern in your eyes. Listen though, for I can hear her heartbeat when I concentrate, so you should be able to as well.”

He tuned out all other noise, his own heartbeat fading, picking up on Rin’s before focusing harder. He then heard it, strong and speedy. It made him smile in a way Rin had never seen before, his hand covering hers.

Wrapping her arm around him, she sank against his embrace, turning her head and kissing his chest affectionately, forgetting for a second. She quickly composed herself, clearing her throat and pulling away from him to retrieve Blanche.

If she was honest, she did sometimes wonder if they could ever be more than friends. She found herself dissecting it a lot, especially in the small hours while he slept beside her. What truly separated friends from a relationship? Sex. They had sex. Quite a lot of it, in fact.

This couldn’t be where the line blurred though. Rin wasn’t very typical in so much that she equated sex with love. It was a physical need for her and Geralt was a means to that end. She didn’t really feel affection towards him at all, but then she questioned this by wondering why she’d kissed his chest affectionately earlier, or why she sometimes lay awake, watching him sleep.

She deduced it was likely a fondness developing because of who he was in relation to her baby. This was where the line truly blurred, she guessed. That had to be it. She was just softening toward him emotionally because he was the father of her child.

Going forward, she didn’t have much opportunity to pursue this, for the safety of the baby as well as them became her most pertinent of thoughts. The Sanctuary were not done with them, despite her warning.

More attacks came, the sect seeming to turn up wherever they headed. When they weren’t fighting them off, they were dealing with being followed by them, the Sanctuary watching their movements from afar.

“They’re goading us, just ignore them. They want one or ideally both of us to ride after them. Let it be on their heads that neither of us are that stupid,” Geralt told her, noticing Rin repeatedly turning to see three of them sulking through the woodlands they rode through, quick to hide behind trees yet not quick enough to escape her notice.

“They’ll bring more sorcerers or sorceresses with them next time. Just another like the big, white eyed fellow we encountered in our first proper contact with them could have felled us,” she replied, Geralt snorting.

“With what you managed to do to him while doubled over in pain, I think we stand to be just fine. The next time we encounter them face to face, I would suggest that you burn them immediately rather than encircling us. They’ve nothing to say worth noting, so keeping them alive is of neither use nor benefit to us.” He suggested, Rin nodding as she slightly turned her head. They were behind them again.

Holding her reins in one hand, she waited until they were clearer of the trees before sending back a fireball of the greatest magnitude she’d used in a while, watching it propel through the air and hit two of the three following them. The third had the good sense to flee.

“Extremely impressive, young lady,” Geralt complimented her with.

“Why thank you. I aim to decimate.” He knew her words served as a double entendre from the way she’d been eyeing him all afternoon, hunger rising within her, wanting nothing more than to partake in her usual brand of heated, sexual decimation with him.

They faced a few issues in facilitating this though, the next village they arrived in not taking kindly to either of their kind, so being forced to sleep in the open air. Well, Rin slept. Geralt wouldn’t rest when he had her to protect while she was sleeping. Sex wasn’t on the agenda while they were out in the open, vulnerable to attack.

It was the same the night after, the night after that too. Sadly, persecution over witchers and embers was rife, both noting that they seemed to face adversary from all angles, further members of the Sanctuary sent to follow them again.

By the time they finally did rest, at the invite of the kind lord and lady who had hired them for a job, Geralt was exhausted. He might have had more stamina than most, but three nights without sleep had taken its toll.

“You can play with me all you like in the morning, but for now you must sleep, Geralt,” Rin told him as he lay down, pulling her astride him.

“I’ll be fine. No, I shall be incredible, in fact. Master of your desires, invocator of your pleasure,” he replied, pulling her swooped neck top down further and kissing her beautiful cleavage, his eyelids growing heavy.

“Go to sleep.” She instructed, smiling as she reached to stroke his face. Without thinking, she leaned in and kissed him, a soft kiss of feeling rather than sexual passion, a kiss he returned before he shut his eyes, his snores rumbling after a few moments.

Could he be more than a friend? Again, Rin found herself awake into the small hours, pondering that very question.


	16. Chapter 16

She swerved a sword, moving her body into a full back bend to avoid the blade, driving her sword up into his lung before turning and slashing the throat of her next assailant, before he had chance to hack at her stomach with his hatchet. 

Taking his weapon, she then flung it through the air, the blade burying itself in the skull of an oncoming mage, ducking under an Axii Geralt aimed at the second, his sword decapitating her cleanly before swinging and gutting the last man standing. 

The wave of members belonging to the Sanctuary of the Blessed had been effectively felled, and the sun wasn’t even full in the sky yet, the mist lingering as light rain began to patter. 

“We make quite the team, do we not?” Rin stated, observing the carnage all around, butchered corpses littering the muddy grass.

“I’m inclined to agree with such a deduction. Celebratory fuck?” he put to her.

“Yes, let’s depart.” She gave him a puzzled look when he shook his head.

“No, I did mean right here,” he informed her.

“In the blood of our enemies?” she asked, a little amazed.

“In the blood of our enemies. I’ve never done such before, but if there’s any woman likely to be willing to partake in such, she’s the one I’m looking at right now,” he spoke, stabbing his sword into the ground as she dropped hers, both advancing on one another.

“Oh, how correct you are.” Their mouths locked together in furious passion, their kisses all battling tongues and heavy breathing as they sank to the ground, yanking at one another’s clothes. Their bloody appearances were further soiled by the sanguine grass, mud streaking them as the rain began to pour. 

It was a feeding of wild hunger, barbarous and slightly morbid, but so erotic as he stripped her naked, freeing his steely cock and pushing into her heat with a gruff murmur against her neck, nipping the skin as he filled her. 

She didn’t let him be in control for long, turning him over and stroking his chest with her bloodied hands as she began to grind his hardness urgently. Seven kills and two orgasms made for an extremely successful morning, even if they did attract a lot of stares from their appearances when they arrived at the next small town. They entertained one person especially. 

“Oh, how glad I am that I rose early, for you two certainly are a sight for sore eyes!” Riley teased, pausing from his eggs on toast breakfast to point and laugh. “Esme, darling! Do you offer a laundry service?” he then called to the innkeeper.

“I do,” a female voice began, a woman in her late thirties then emerging from the back room. “I’ll be charging double.” She then added as she took in Geralt and Rin. “A room too?”

“That would be wonderful, a bath also.” Rin requested, Esme nodding. 

“I’ll see to it now, the bathroom is down the corridor to the left, leave your clothes outside.” An hour later and changed into fresh clothing while the blood and mud soiled garments were being cleaned, they sat and ate while catching up with their recently absent friend. 

“So, I see a decision has been made,” he began, nodding at Rin’s tiny bump with a smile. She was now just over four and a half months gone and just starting to show a little more prominently. He wanted to say more on such, but waited until she’d gone to lie down for a while before sharing candid thoughts with Geralt. 

“So… and please don’t stomach punch me for such a pondering, but are you absolutely sure you’re both doing the right thing? Your lives and an infant are likely to be… well, complicated,” he broached gently. He knew it truly wasn’t any of his business, he wasn’t a part of this and did not presume to be. He did wonder how they would make such work though. 

“We have more pressing worries at this time than how we will travel for work with the baby, although we have discussed that already,” Geralt began, before filling Riley in on everything regarding he had missed, particularly the problems they faced with the Sanctuary of the Blessed. 

“You know, I’d heard things about them, we all had, but like so many others I didn’t ever think they truly existed. It seemed like such a folklore tale, these crusading vigilantes who took down filthy mutants such as us within the shadows,” he began, Geralt nodding. He’d always assumed the same too, never actually encountering any members of the Sanctuary before now. 

“Either way, whether they exist or not, this child will bring complications because of what Enillah told us of,” he spoke, Riley’s eyes widening.

“Well, yes. There is that. Goodness fucking knows what all the mutations did to us in way of what we could hereditarily pass on to a child. I wonder if it’ll be right away, or something she grows into. I hope for your sakes it doesn’t manifest when she’s a teenager, that’ll be bad enough as it is with all the hormones and the conniptions. Adding the fact she’ll be a powerful being, the first of her kind, no less and boom!” he gestured, throwing his arms wide. 

“I’m not appreciating your jocular spin on this, Riley,” Geralt fumed, his friend actually realising for once that perhaps this was not a time for humour.

“I apologise, you’re right, of course you are. Well, old friend, you know you have my sword in defending the little one, even if she does have two extremely formidable parents as it is. I’ll be a very protective uncle figure.” Those words were definitely received better, Geralt reaching out to grip his shoulder momentarily, smiling with appreciation.

“That means a lot, thank you.” Riley exchanged the gesture, taking a swig of his beer.

“So, how do you think you’ll adjust to it, going from the man some refer to as the Butcher of Blaviken to daddy?” he asked, curious. He just couldn’t picture Geralt in such a role.

“How does any new parent adjust to it? Just because my job requires a measure of coldness and savagery does not mean I shan’t be equipped to raise my daughter,” he replied. It was a fair point. 

“I’m still going to have to see it to believe it, the ferociously scary Geralt of Rivia with a tiny baby.” Riley teased, Geralt shaking his head. He’d be surprised though, if he witnessed what Rin did after her nap.

“Today, your mummy and I slaughtered the intolerant partisans who seek to harm us. They shall still keep coming, but they truly have no idea who they are dealing with. You have the most formidable parents in the entire world, little one. 

“When you visited me in my dream and pleaded with me to not let them take you, I awoke before I had the chance to tell you that no one shall ever snatch you from us. That is the greatest promise I shall ever make to anyone. You have no idea how much you are loved, and you’re not even born yet.” Geralt told the swell of Rin’s belly, stroking it as he rested his head on her thigh. 

It was a sight she had come to love, watching him talking to their baby whilst stoking her bump. As she lay on her side, he had an arm draped around her, stroking her lower back too. They both found themselves slipping into to these affectionate little moments with one another, both telling themselves the same lie too. It wasn’t solely because of the baby. 

Neither was prepared to admit such though, struggling with their deepening feelings a little since they were simply something they were not used to. They were built to be more hardened than what appeared to be blossoming between them. 

Then of course there was the fact they lived under a near constant threat, both separately considering it foolish to concentrate on anything else other than keeping their unborn child safe. She was their main concern, not what they may or may not feel growing between one another. 

This was no more apparent than when they faced another attack the following day. It was concerning to them both, how quickly more of the Sanctuary were being sent for them, both wondering just how many people were members of the secretive sect.

“Fifteen, no, sixteen of them. Where the fuck are they all coming from?” Riley asked as he watched the red caped figures nearing them, some running, some on horseback. “Baldie? How do you wish to proceed? Are we cutting them down or are you roasting them alive?”

Even though it had been decided that Rin would simply decimate them by means of burning, there had been a few instances since where they’d partaken of a physical fight with their enemies, enjoying the brutality of literally chopping down the people who sought to harm them and their baby. 

Rin didn’t answer as a strong rage at their audacity to come for them yet again swelled within her, her motherly instincts kicking in stronger than she’d ever felt as she began to walk forward, raising her hands to the sky. As she did, a literal wall of fire rose up in front before her, but after a few moments, so did the people who were pursuing them. 

Geralt and Riley stood braced, watching in awe as the red cloaked members of the Sanctuary struggled, another sorceress present attempting to fight off whatever it was within Rin that had her immobilised, all of them suddenly beginning to howl in pain as their eyes, ears and noses gushed blood. 

With her eyes completely alight she stared at them studiously, their screams intensifying as flames leapt from their eyes before with a mere flick of her hands, their necks twisted and they fell to the ground, eyes burned out, necks broken, stone cold dead. 

“I didn’t know you could do something like that!” Riley shouted, impressed. 

“I can’t,” she began, catching her breath as she rested a hand to her bump. “That wasn’t me, I was merely the vessel. It was her.”


	17. Chapter 17

“How could it have been her? She’s tiny, barely even a baby yet. You cannot be certain it wasn’t your power, Rin. Perhaps something manifesting itself through your emotions because of your pregnancy?” Geralt asked, coming to her side.

“Yes, our daughter. She is who just manifested herself. I just had this wave come over me, it wasn’t my conscious thought, but it was intrinsic, linked through me. It was her wanting to protect us, just as we protect her. She feels when we’re in danger,” she exclaimed, rubbing her belly. “It’s okay, little one. We’re all quite well.” Her eyes then lit up, her mouth opening a little. 

“She just moved, I felt it! Give me your hand, quickly!” Grasping Geralt’s hand, she pressed it to where she’d felt the little flutter, watching him smile widely when he felt it too. Rin squeaked with excitement, looking so adorable to him that he couldn’t help but wrap his arm around her, holding her close and kissing her head. 

She leaned into him, her arm around him too as she smiled down at her bump, until suddenly she became quite worried. “Geralt, if she can do this and she isn’t even properly formed yet, just what kind of power will she have once she’s born?” 

“I think that is a case of us having to wait and see.” He replied honestly, not able to hide the trepidation in his voice as he heard Enillah’s warning echo through his head. ‘She will challenge you, her power must be harnessed, contained. She has to be taught to contain it, or she’ll become dangerous to all of us, even her mother and father.’

How on earth could they instil any kind of parental discipline on a foetus though, one who had just used her mother as a conduit to slaughter eight people, burning their eyes out and snapping their necks? It was something they discussed as they rode to the next city, heading for Salm in the north west of Ebbing. 

“Were you aware at all, could you control it or did she literally take over you, like a possession?” Riley asked, leaning forward in the saddle to feed Ed the core of the apple he’d just eaten. 

“I was perfectly aware of everything. I was the one who controlled the wall of fire, but everything else was her. I had intended to pull them all into it, but that isn’t exactly what happened, as we all witnessed,” she replied, raising her eyebrows. “I don’t really see such to be an issue against our enemies though.” 

“You’re right, it shan’t be. However, what if she incorrectly senses something else to be a threat, me for instance? I don’t particularly relish in the thought that I could have my neck snapped and eyes burned out of my skull because of what you enjoy with me sexually,” Geralt then added, of course referring to the fact that Rin liked her sex rough.

“Oh, now we’re getting to the good stuff!” Riley piped up.

“Shut up.” His friends chorused, both giving him a warning look that didn’t quite reach their mouths, smiling a little. They both knew he’d likely react to such.

“Well, she hasn’t been stirred by such yet and I doubt she will unless she feels me in some kind of angry state, as I was earlier,” Rin offered, shrugging.

“Does this mean I have to do as I’m told now?” Geralt asked, frowning. 

“You’d better not. I don’t like you being too obedient.” Winking at him, she rolled her eyes at Riley, who looked thoroughly entertained by that small window into their sex life. That was all he’d get though. They, however, got to indulge exponentially a few days later, splitting off to go on separate hunting endeavours to Riley. 

They were hired by a wealthy family to take care of a striga problem, having to await the full moon for her to emerge from the family crypt and strike her down, invited to stay at the large mansion as their guests. It was a gesture neither were all too familiar with, both being seen as outcasts for the most part, but they weren’t about to turn it down. 

“Geralt, take your boots off. Feel the floor, they have a hypocaust system! This is so nice, stone floor but warm feet. Oh my gods, there’s a sunken bath through there!” Rin stated excitedly, Geralt entertained by her elation. “It has a faucet too! They don’t have to gradually fill! And it comes through hot. How do they do that?” She then shouted as he heard the water begin to run. 

“Probably a large butt or tank of some kind that is filled from the top and then suspended over one of the fires of the hypocaust system. Either way, I’m going to fuck you in there as soon as it’s full.” She immediately grinned at his statement, stripping off as she kissed him, removing him of his clothes too. 

What they enjoyed in the sunken bath was of fairly tame and sedate pace for them, but once out and upon the gigantic bed, however…

“You mentioned not liking me to be too obedient a few days ago, so in accordance with that, I’d like to test yours,” he asked, standing behind her, moving her hair from her shoulder to kiss it, hands stroking her arms. 

“Must I be a good girl and do as I’m told?” she asked, sensing him move to pick something up. 

“You must. Except… not too good.” Taking the belt he held in his hands, he then looped it through her arms and buckled it, binding them behind her back. “Now, crawl across the bed and bend over, stick that beautiful arse up high and spread your legs wide.” He then instructed her, his tone low and so sexy, Rin could feel an aqueous dew moistening her folds already.

With her sex glinting sumptuously in the dim light from the candles (they’d only lit two, on account of what happened when they had sex around naked flames) she looked so enticing to him that Geralt had to hold back from burying his mouth against it, choosing instead to tease her a little by kissing the back of her thighs slowly and delicately. 

Rin pressed her head further into the bed, her legs quivering as she felt his tongue running from the back of her knee to her bum cheek, his lips finishing by laying a kiss there. He might have been the most barbarous lover she’d ever had, but also he was the most sensual too. 

He took his time, paid attention to the more non-obvious erogenous zones on her body (she hadn’t known just how sensitive her inner ankles were until Geralt had spent a generous amount of time scattering them with kisses) and paid attention to how she reacted to touch. He treated her body like a sacred temple he would worship at. No other man had been so sexually magnanimous before.

“Ahhh, fuck!” she winced, his hand ricocheting off her backside after delivering an almighty slap. Yes, it all mingled beautifully with the fact he was also, to put such simply, an unequivocal sexual beast too. “Please, do that again?” 

“I shall, but only when I deem.” He replied, biting the centre of the red handprint he’d just left. A light flicker of his tongue then touched her opening, a single motion that caused a breathy gasp to leave her mouth, repeating the action against her clit.

The teasing touches invoked further lustful quakes, Rin feeling anticipation gathering as her cunt tingled. His mouth then scattered kisses across her lower back before moving down again, ghosting her sex, his hot breath against her wet, pink folds causing her body to prickle with goose pimples. 

Those delicate touches continued, until her frustration pooled in her throat and dripped from her gently flexing cunt, Geralt surprised by his own restraint not to literally eat her alive, getting to witness her so closely and not react and give her what her body so sorely craved. 

“Do you beg, fiery temptress?” he asked, his voice rich with amusement. He could scarcely believe she’d let him bind her in the first place. Having a woman as alpha in nature as she was submit to him fully was something he knew would only ever happen in rarity. He planned to savour every last moment of it.

“Mmmhmm,” she murmured, Geralt bringing a hand back down to her backside in a savage slap.

“I require much clearer confirmation than that, Rin.” Another slap was administered, her moan in response deep and appreciative. 

“Then no, I shan’t beg.” Of course, she wouldn’t give in so easily, even when bound and being driven out of her mind with lust. He had to admire that kind of tenacity.

“You will, soon enough.” He warned, once again quickly catching her clit with his tongue. He then made her body almost convulse off the bed when his rubbed his hand over her oozing slit, turning her over into a seated position and moving her to lean back against the pillows. 

Pushing her thighs open with his knees, he knelt between her legs, leaning forward to kiss her neck before wrapping his hand around his cock and slowly beginning to slide it upwards.

“If you shan’t beg for my mouth, I shall make you watch until you beg for what’s in my hand,” he told her, smirking widely while Rin looked to struggle with the notion of feeling ridiculously aroused and absolutely incensed that this would likely lead to her utterly begging for the mercy of his manhood. 

Daring to turn her head away, she was then reprimanded as she surely knew she would be, Geralt giving her cheek a sharp, but not overly aggressive slap, grasping her jaw and forcing her head to face frontwards. “I said you shall watch. I do not permit you to look away. Be obedient.” He told her balefully, Rin’s eyes flicking fire at him. He might have known she’d love every second of this. 

She watched, his big hand slowly sliding up and down his thick shaft, pre-cum being squeezed out all over the dark, purple-red head of his erection, tempting her to lean forward and lick it. 

His eyes met hers, winking at her, making her stomach flip with desire, his mouth agape as a deep, rumbling groan spilled out. Gods, he was so devastatingly sexy. Pride be damned, she knew she physically wouldn’t be able to last long.

“I see how much you want me; I can see it dripping onto the bed. You need me, don’t you? You’re craving to feel my huge cock splitting open that gloriously wet, tight little cunt, aren’t you? In fact, you’re so aroused I could probably talk you to orgasm right now, couldn’t I?” He told her, hand working himself faster, the veins of his erection engorged as his arm muscles flexed with effort. 

Leaning forward, he licked the outer edge of her ear, feeling her pant against his shoulder as fire licked her spine, her arousal surging. “Give in and beg me.” He said in barely more than a gruff whisper, reaching between them to stroke her clit with his thumb, the single stroke nearly tipping her into nirvana.

“Please, Geralt. Please fuck me, right now.” She begged him, licking her lip as she moaned, hazel eyes still burning with her fire as he lifted her legs to his shoulders, shifting forward until her knees touched her chest before driving his hardness into her. 

He might have given her what she wanted, but it wasn’t how she wanted it. Not right away, at least. Withdrawing from her completely, he leaned forward and kissed her, Rin grumbling into his mouth with frustration, making him break the role of dominant aggressor for a few moments, laughing at her frustrations. 

“Obedience isn’t easy, is it?” he asked, being growled at in reply as she pouted at him. He’d never seen her at such a disadvantage and in all truth, he was greatly enjoying it. He kept her hanging in anticipation, lustful quakes rippling her abdomen when he stroked her clit with the tip of his cock before he suddenly slid back into the sumptuous hug of her wetness. 

He continued to tease her mercilessly, thrusting in, pausing, her cunt fluttering around him wildly before withdrawing again, but gradually sped up until finally, he did what she needed, what her entire body craved; he fucked her wildly and without pause. 

Her cries filled the room as she was pounded aggressively, arms straining against the belt, the leather creaking until the buckle suddenly snapped, all obedience gone as she grasped his shoulders and turned him onto his back, the tangency between them not lost as she fucked him assiduously. 

The heat between them was as incredible as usual, the flames from the only two candles lighting the room burning as furiously as the two people whose passions enkindled them, their hands all over one another as they kissed hungrily. 

That night, they enjoyed one another until the early hours, the sounds of owls hooting and cicadas chirping coming in through the open window as they lay wrapped around one another, sharing kisses as they recovered from the hours of sexual decadence. 

Usually they wouldn’t indulge in such intimate gestures, but on that night as the warm, late summer breeze drifted in over their nakedness, they fell asleep in one another’s arms for the first time. 


	18. Chapter 18

Lying awake with Rin still sleeping in his arms the next morning, Geralt couldn’t remember a time where he felt more content. He had a world of worries burdening him, the strength of his unborn daughter and how he and her mother could possibly hope to contain it, all while being followed by a sect who wanted the three of them dead. 

In that morning though, all he felt was placid tranquillity. Lately he had often found himself questioning whether or not Rin could be more to him, but holding her there as the sun filled the bedroom, casting shadows across her beautiful face, he realised she already was. 

She irritated the living shit out of him a lot, she was self-righteous and headstrong, could be ignorant and bad tempered, but her good qualities outweighed everything that he found annoying. She was the strongest, most fearless woman he’d ever met, but that fiery fortitude was tempered with someone who had a very kind heart. 

He remembered back to a few weeks previously, watching her carrying a lost and screaming child around a village in her arms, soothing him while she refused to move on until finding his mother from whom he’d wandered away. It didn’t end there either. 

A few days after that and he’d found delight in the simplicity of watching her bond with a squirrel, feeding the tiny creature from her hand. Perhaps the most beautiful was the simplest, noticing a butterfly drowning in a water trough and rushing to scoop it out in a panic, stating that even the tiniest of innocent lives were precious, therefore she couldn’t let it drown. 

When he witnessed her like that, it was easy to forget her profession, what she was, a woman who would literally reduce her enemies to cremated remains, the monsters she hunted too. He had a huge amount of respect for her when he considered everything she’d endured to become what she was. 

Did all of this equate to love though? Having never been in love with anyone before in his eighty-two years, Geralt didn’t truly know, ridiculous as such might sound to anyone who had experienced love before. Not only had he not felt it in himself, he’d never been shown it either. 

All he knew for certain was that whatever it was he felt about her, it was more than friendship and more than the feelings she invoked through being the mother of his child. 

He was confident that the way she felt was changing as well, witnessing the way she acted towards him becoming more affectionate. It wasn’t discreet either, she couldn’t hide when her irises flickered fire when he smiled at her, or the way her heartbeat sped up either. 

No more so sealed it for him than when she opened her eyes and beamed at him that morning, though. 

“Oh hello, you’re awake already,” she exclaimed sleepily, stretching and then leaning in to kiss him. 

“Good morning, beautiful,” he greeted her with, granting her the kisses she sought. 

“You’ve never referred to me as that before,” she noted, stroking the side of his neck and feeling alight inside for hearing him call her such. It all seemed to be slipping quite effortlessly into place, what had been quietly burgeoning between them. 

“Have I not? Well, I certainly think it,” he replied, smiling as she shook her head and then buried her face at the side of his neck for a few moments before looking at him again. 

“We’re not just friends any longer, are we? Last night it was different, it wasn’t as it always was before we fell asleep,” she stated, Geralt nodding. 

“Whatever we are, not that I think it needs to be defined, we absolutely are not just friends, no. We’re…” he trailed off, Rin starting to smile widely.

“The way you said you don’t think we need to be defined, but then attempt to define it,” she laughed, stroking his cheek. “Shall we just define is as us, being quite happy together?” 

“I think such is agreeable, yes.” They feel into the kind of kisses that were unbreakable at that point, basking in mutual affection, very content to no longer have to second guess themselves. It had all evolved quite simply and organically, no fuss, no drama, just an adult conclusion that they had deeper feelings for one another and finally acting upon them. 

They’d have liked nothing more than to spend the morning relaxing, absconded to the happy little bubble of just them, but being someone else’s guests, they had to wash and dress before thanking their hosts and leaving. 

“You look very content there, with your extremely smelly fruit,” Geralt commented as they rode away, Rin happily munching through orange segments. The lady of the house had kindly given them a large bag of fruit from her orchard, of which included a lot of large, ripe oranges.

“Would you like a piece?” she asked, thrusting it into his vicinity. The look on his face made her burst out laughing immediately. 

“Absolutely not. If there’s one scent I cannot stand, its oranges. Vile. You enjoy them though, just come nowhere near me until you’ve swilled your mouth and washed your hands.” He replied. The smell might have nauseated him, but that didn’t stop him from moving Roach closer to Blanche a while later and kissing her, despite his statement. 

“I could have just taken a drink of water,” she laughed when he pulled a face, continuing as he looked further regretful. 

“It’s still your fault. You shouldn’t make me want to kiss you.” He joked, Rin shaking her head. They met with Riley back in the village before they continued their journey, arriving in Salm by the early afternoon. Their arrival wasn’t without issue though, as they found as soon as they entered the city and were greeted by a group of twenty men. 

“We’ve been told about you. We don’t want your kind around here,” one spoke as he stepped forward from the small group, all of them attempting to look menacing but unfortunately for them, failing to do so in the eyes of people who hunted creatures much more ferocious for a living. 

“Witchers? We’ve been here many a time before without issue,” Riley commented, frowning.

“You fellas are alright, I suppose. No, it’s her we don’t want here. The one who carries the monster in her womb. The Sanctuary said we should watch out for you,” the man spoke, pointing at Rin. 

“And who are you, hmm? The local baying mob? You’re missing your pitchforks and fiery torches,” she commented, making Geralt snort with laughter. 

“Oh, do you think we’re not being serious? We’re the men who guard this city, that’s who we are. We’re prepared to take you on, love. You’re not passing through here if we have anything to do with it!” he shouted, Rin looking more entertained by the moment. 

“Well, twenty of you against me? That’s hardly a fair fight,” she stated as she and Geralt climbed down from their horses, handing Blanche’s reins to him as he smiled confidently at her, squeezing her shoulder supportively. 

“So what, are you going to hide behind your man now, eh?” he then asked, watching the exchange between her and Geralt. 

“She hides behind no one. I’m merely going to stand here and hold her horse while I watch her hand your arses to you. She’s right when she tells you it’s hardly a fair fight. It isn’t at all.” Geralt spoke, smiling as he winked at Rin. 

She then turned and walked toward the group, someone firing an arrow at her. Incredibly, she caught it mid-air, turned it around and threw it back, the spear goring the throat of the man who released it. The man who’d been doing the talking then made a swipe for her with his sword, Rin catching his arm and using his weight against him to spin him around, disarm him and then use his blade to slit his throat. 

“Anyone else?” she asked, feeling the same as she’d felt before her slaughter of the most recent members of The Sanctuary starting to spread through her, except for this time she was on her guard, sending suppressive thoughts back. ‘It’s alright, you don’t have to do anything. Let mummy handle them’ she thought, hoping her little one would understand it. 

Feeling that wave of her daughter’s power manifesting beginning to slightly sink again, she marvelled at how she could convey such to her and have the tiny foetus respond, knowing her mother was okay and quietening down once more. 

It took a huge chunk of her energy to fight against the will of her baby though. The energy running through her was palpable in its all-out, unyielding strength. She could handle it though, she just hoped she could do the same when it came to her daughter being outside of her womb.

Rin didn’t have chance to ponder that much longer though, one very large man surging forward, attempting to grab her throat. She sent him the same way as she had the minotaur upon first meeting Riley and Geralt, throwing him into the side of a building and snapping his neck. 

The fourth man began hurling rocks at her, Rin catching them at speed and throwing them back, the fifth came for her with a dagger she swerved before jumping onto his back and clamouring onto his shoulders, dealing out her second broken neck, but that time with her thighs. 

“I always knew those powerful thighs of yours could lead a man to his ultimate downfall, baldie!” Riley called to her, Rin cockily turning to him and taking a little bow before she addressed the remaining fifteen men. 

“I’ll let you live if you realise you’re no match for me and leave us the fuck alone while we pass through your city. We’re only here for work and board, this is all. Whatever the group of fundamentalist arseholes you fucking met told you, they’re wrong. 

“How the fuck can a group of people who do not even know me know that my unborn child is a monster? Have you no bloody shame than to succumb to mob mentality and attack a pregnant woman based on the information given to you by a group of strangers? Can’t you see how you’ve been played by them?” she told them, Geralt very impressed that she’d reined in her temper and actually attempted to reason with them. 

“I don’t doubt some of you are fathers and husbands. If someone persecuted your women and unborn children just as I am receiving, how would you feel? I might not be human, I am very much ember, forged in the fires of Mount Rholk, but I still do not deserve to be victimised like this. You ought to be fucking ashamed. Now, are we going to have further issue?”

Suddenly, the men weren’t quite as brave as they had been, not solely because they’d witnessed five of their companions be decimated by the very physically capable ember, but because she’d made them feel what they deserved to. Shame. Everything she’d charged them with was correct. 

“I’m sorry. Please carry on, you nor your companions shall be harmed.” One of the men said earnestly, offering his hand. To her grace, Rin actually shook it, nodding to him before she turned and jumped back onto Blanche’s back, the group dispersing. 

“I don’t entirely trust that’s the last we might see of any of them, if I’m honest,” she commented. 

“Me neither,” Riley and Geralt both spoke. “Either way, that was exceptionally well handled, wouldn’t you agree, snowdrop?” Riley then added, earning a glare from Geralt. 

“Not even I call him that any longer,” Rin said, laughter rippling her voice.

“That’s only because he has you seduced with his penis magic. You’re permanently cock drunk,” Riley asserted, making her guffaw. “I however, will likely call him that until the day one of us dies!” 

After a full day and most of the evening touring the city while looking for work, none was to be found until right at the end of the day, after they’d eaten and were heading to the local boarding house to seek accommodation for the night. 

“You’re Geralt of Rivia, aren’t you?” A young boy spoke as he ran up to them, patting Roach’s shoulder as Geralt brought her to a halt. 

“I am he,” he confirmed. 

“My mother needs help! We have a wendigo on our property and she said you’re the best monster hunter within the Continent!” he then added, Geralt turning back to his companions. 

“You look like your eyelids are about to fall on the floor. I’ll handle this and join you later. Riley, can you sort Roach for me?” He then asked, his friend nodding. With that he left on foot, the boy talking his ear off as he went, Rin amused at just how well received it would be by him. Geralt didn’t enjoy people who were verbally excessive. 

She was very glad to strip off to her undergarments and climb into bed a short time later, falling asleep before Geralt’s bulk dipping the mattress behind her woke her up a time later. 

“All dealt with?” she murmured, still half asleep. 

“Yes, the creature has been dispatched,” he confirmed. “Sorry I woke you, you go back to sleep now though. Goodnight, I love you.” These words made her mind snap from sleepy to wide awake in a moment. Was he really the type of man who would say such to her so casually? 

To Rin, it felt hollow. They’d only just admitted deeper feelings toward each other that morning too, so why wouldn’t he have said it then, within that special moment they’d shared upon waking? Because he didn’t feel it yet. This she knew. Also, something else made her suspicious, but she didn’t let on for a second. Instead, she tested him. Something wasn’t quite right here. 

“Do you remember the first time you told me that, by the waterfall?” she asked, stroking his arm as it wrapped around her, giving the impression of utter normalcy. 

“Of course, I do. It was nothing short of a perfect day, wasn’t it?” There she had her answer. She kept calm, continuing to stroke his arm for a few minutes before getting out of bed. “Where are you going, sweetheart?” Again, it was jarring, hearing those words. Because she knew, this wasn’t right. 

“I have to go to the toilet. You know what my bladder has been like lately. There’s sadly no chamber pot either, so I’m going to the privy,” she told him, dressing quickly.

“With your sword?” he asked.

“I can’t be too careful now, can I?” she replied, leaning down and kissing him. “I’ll be back soon.” She felt her body tingling all over as she walked to the door, opening it and leaving before quietly padding down to Riley’s room and letting herself in. 

“Riley, wake up!” she hissed, the snake eyed man almost head butting her when he sat up with a start.

“What is it, what’s the issue?” he asked, Rin holding her finger to her lips. 

“The man who just got into my bed isn’t Geralt. He looks and sounds like Geralt, but he isn’t him. That’s my issue,” she whispered, Riley’s eyes widening.

“Shapeshifter?” She nodded in reply. “Oh, fuck.” 

This was the last thing they needed to deal with. 


	19. Chapter 19

“How did you know?” Riley asked, hurrying into his clothes as Rin started to pace nervously. Shapeshifters were not an easy target by any means, especially when they took on the form of someone dear to you. Also, there was the fact that Geralt would be being held somewhere at that present moment, unable to escape. 

“He told me he loved me, I tested him with a question over the first time he’d ever said that and he failed. Geralt has never told me he loves me and he certainly wouldn’t inform me of such so casually either. Then I realised he smelled different, his scent wasn’t the same,” she stated, drawing her sword as she and Riley readied themselves.

“He’ll try and trick you, you know. That’s how they prey on people, they’ll use your emotions and feelings for the person they’ve adopted the appearance of against you. Our aim should be to act fast enough that it doesn’t become an actuality, because no matter how hardened we are, it isn’t pleasant. And yes, I can smell from here it isn’t Geralt,” he told her as they crept out of his room and headed back to hers. 

Reaching for the handle, she moved so her sword was concealed behind her back, creeping back into the room and once again, feeling her daughter’s power rising up, sending the same message for her to keep calm. 

She was just about to brandish her sword at the imposter when suddenly, he lunged at her from the bed, a dagger blade pressing to her throat before suddenly, a slicing noise became audible, his arms releasing her in a second. 

It was in that second Riley added to the body blow that has just gouged a gigantic gash in his side by swinging his sword again and taking his head. The task had gone a lot more smoothly than he’d been expecting it to. 

“Fucking hell, you’re competent and then some,” Rin remarked. She’d felt the sword pass over her head, missing her scalp my millimetres. He’d timed it perfectly to fell her assailant but literally not harm a hair on her head. In the dim light too, no less. She was very impressed.

“I’m probably the most skilled swordsman on the Continent. Even the real Geralt would likely admit that. So, do you recognise this man?” Picking up the severed head, the shapeshifter returned to his normal form, Rin could barely believe her eyes when she took in his face. He was the same white eyed, dark skinned man she’d killed upon their first encounter with the Sanctuary. 

“I do, but he died. I killed him when they very first ambushed him,” she stated, Riley looking at him in disbelief before suddenly, something clicked. 

“Blood magic. The fucking hypocrites,” he fumed. To return someone to life using blood magic, a life had to be taken. How fucking dare this sect be so puritanical over the fate of an unborn child when they went to such extremes to resurrect their members. 

“What’s blood magic? Does it involve Geralt’s blood?” Rin asked, feeling a little panic rise in her throat.

“I fucking hope not, or I’ll do to all of them what I just did to him. Help me with the corpse, we have to move. We have to find him.” They carried the body (plus severed head) of the man out of the boarding house, dumping him in a secluded spot before running through the street in the direction they’d last seen Geralt walking in. 

They sniffed the air, able through their sharpened senses to pick up on his unique scent, veering left as they continued around the large meeting hall and into a side street, the narrowness of the buildings making it hard to see. 

Rin lit the way with a fireball, both of them surging forward before swinging right, the alleyway narrow and putrid smelling, but Geralt’s scent growing stronger. Stopping outside the rear of a tavern, Rin looked around frantically, being able to smell him right there but not see him, before pulling over the large beer barrels by the side of the door. Within the largest, she found him. 

“Geralt? Geralt, wake up,” she exclaimed, taping his face with her hand, Riley crouching to assess him. 

“He’s okay, he’s just been stunned. Whatever the spell was, it was more potent than our Axii’s. He might be out for a while, but we have him. That’s the most important thing,” he stated, throwing him over his shoulder and taking Rin’s hand, giving it a squeeze. She was too strong and proud to admit it, but he knew a part of her had been terrified that something had happened to him.

“Why didn’t they do a better job of hiding him? This smells like a trap,” she commented, on high alert as they hurried through the streets again, back to the boarding house.

“Because I do not think they envisaged he had to be well hidden. Their plan was to kill you and the baby; all they needed was him out of the way to do that. As for why they didn’t kill him immediately too, I can only guess to rip his heart out before delivering that final blow.” He surmised, Rin agreeing that it was highly likely to be the case. 

They got him back to the boarding house, miraculously unseen just as they were on the way out with the dead sorcerer (then again, it was well after midnight and quiet) Riley putting Geralt down on the bed and going to find what he needed to get the pool of blood cleaned from the floor, so nobody was any the wiser over what had happened. 

Rin sat cross legged on the bed while he cleaned, stroking Geralt’s cheek while she waited patiently for him to come around. When he finally did, he instantly sat up and grabbed her hand, wrapping his other arm around her. 

In his last waking moments, he’d been scared she and their baby were about to be killed and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. To hold her, breathe in her scent and tune out everything else to hear the speedy drum of his daughter’s heartbeat made him take several sighs of relief. He couldn’t relax yet though.

“We should leave immediately. It isn’t safe for us to rest here,” he told them, getting up off the bed. A part of Rin was disappointed to hear such since she was so tired, but she knew it wasn’t safe to stay. They had to leave Salm as soon as possible. 

“Yes, agreed. I’ll gather my things and meet you at the horses.” Riley told them, Geralt turning to Rin as he exited. 

“We need to find somewhere in the next few months, somewhere remote where we can be safe and unpursued. You’re going to be too heavily pregnant to travel and fight at the rate we’re going now, I can see it’s taking its toll right now and you’re only a week shy of five months gone. At some point, we must stop, even if it does mean we hide from them,” he told her, concern etched across his face. 

“You’re right, we do. We can talk about this later though. Let’s put some distance between us and Salm.” They gathered their belongings and went down to saddle up the horses, Riley already there. 

Leaving in minutes, the witchers both drank their potion in order to see better through the darkness, Rin riding one handed as she held her other aloft with a ball of fire, moving through the streets quickly before hitting the terrain at a gallop once they reached the grasslands. 

“Where are we heading? Can I suggest Thymer Lorin? We could call upon Tayliss,” Riley suggested, negotiating a fallen tree, Ed jumping it clearly thanks to Rin’s light.

“That’s exactly where I plan on us going. Rin, we’re approaching some large, white rocks in about a quarter of a mile. Bear left just before you reach them,” he called to her, the ember slightly in front of them so she could keep the way illuminated for the horses.

“Okay and who is Tayliss?” she asked, Blanche snorting hard at the ends of her reins. It was the noise of her horse that made her firstly think she misheard the answer she received. 

“My ex-wife,” Riley said, Rin slowing her mare a little when they reached steeper ground.

“You were married? You?” she replied with dubiety.

“I’m not a bloody ogre, baldie!” he exclaimed.

“No, but you are a tart,” she stated.

“This being the reason why she’s my ex-wife. We still get along famously though, she’s a very wonderful person and extremely powerful sorceress, also hospitable. She has a small fortress for a home, she’ll allow us to stay until we figure out how to fucking deal with the Sanctuary.” He explained, before the focused their full attention on the journey ahead of them.

They rode hard across the terrain, resting for only short periods for the sake of the horses before setting off at gallop once more. It was after the fourth burst of forward motion that they suddenly all became aware of something. They were no longer alone. 

All three readied themselves for attack as they saw fire lit torches dotted around, the flames growing nearer as they were approached from all sides, pulling their horses up to a halt. It was just as Rin was ready to unleash the combined force of her and her daughter that she realised she didn’t have to. 

A familiar scent was close by, that of the man who had trained her to be all she was. Also, as she saw, the fiery torches were not that at all. They were the same fire as hers. 

“Stop, it’s okay. I know who it is, it isn’t them,” she told Riley and Geralt, watching them relax as she sent the same energies to the baby, finding it difficult as usual to rein her in. 

“Rin, thank the very flames. We’ve found you,” Omnir Kalflax spoke as he pulled his horse up in front of them, looking relieved. Along with him were Omnir’s Wessin and Hafdan, as well as two members of the Order, Antel and Helvenna. 

“Word reached us of your current situation and the danger you are in because of it. We’ve come to take you home; give you shelter away from the Sanctuary. Your companion and babies’ father are of course welcome too,” Antel spoke, riding towards her and opening an arm to hug her. “It’s so good to see you.” He then added, Rin nodding. It still felt strange even after so long, to receive affection from these people who had treated her so coldly all throughout her formative years. 

“What do you think?” She asked Geralt, unsure whether she wanted to take them up on their offer or stick with the plan to visit Riley’s former wife. 

“I think Rholkrhaden Island is perhaps our safest bet. It’ll give us breathing space, to decide where we go from there. It also means the Sanctuary have to cross water to reach you and any would-be attempts at such I’d like to think would be thwarted by your fellow embers,” he replied, Omnir Kalflax interjecting quickly.

“Oh, absolutely. This goes without saying. She will be well protected, you all will. We have a safe house about ten miles from here. Let us hurry, even with our extra fire power it isn’t safe for us to commune like this in the open. We all have targets upon our backs.” With that the horses were turned and the embers all lit the way, pleased to have finally found the one they’d spent weeks searching for.

Although she knew it made the most sense, Rin felt uncomfortable with the idea of being rescued by the people she’d left behind her five years ago. She’d wanted to prove she didn’t need them or their praise of her, yet now here she was, having no choice but to fall under their protection. 

Rholkrhaden was likely the safest place for her at that time, though. If any boats attempted to come ashore, they’d be fire bombed before their passengers could even reach the black shale beach. 

Once they reached the safe house, Rin was so weary she could have slept on her feet. Such was not necessary though. 

Their hosts were two members of the Order she only vaguely remembered, who had lived on the Continent so all embers travelling there had some kind of representation away from the stronghold of Rholkrhaden, servants taking their horses from them and others showing them to their assigned rooms after they’d crossed the threshold of the large homestead. 

“We’ll all meet early in the morning and have a proper discussion then. You go and rest for now though, I’ve had the servants provide some water and fruit, in case you’re hungry.” Omnir Kalflax told them, smiling kindly before turning and leaving. 

They both drank heartily, Rin eating a few strawberries before tiredness took its toll, undressing to gladly climb into bed with Geralt. 

“Perhaps now we can relax for longer than a few hours at a time,” he told her, stroking her back as she snuggled against his chest, feeling relieved at the prospect.

“Yes, it would be preferable to the constant game of cat and mouse. It means you don’t have to be on your guard so much either,” she told him, stroking his neck.

“I always will be when it comes to you and her, but tonight, I happily rest knowing that I don’t have to be.” They fell asleep soon after, not waking for many hours. 

When Rin’s eyes did flutter open though, she was cold, smelling the sea air all around her and realising she definitely wasn’t in the same place where she was when she fell asleep. She was just about to sit up as panic flooded her, calling for Geralt when someone pressed a cloth to her face, her eyes searching around and seeing Antel holding it there.

“I’m so sorry we have to do this, we needed you on your own though. Don’t panic, I promise we shan’t hurt you and we haven’t harmed your witcher. Don’t fight it, Rin, just sleep.” 

This was all she remembered before her vision became fuzzy and she lost consciousness again, the sleeping potion-soaked cloth working as swiftly as it was intended to. 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know I am appreciative of all the reads, kudos and comments I have received so far. Thank you!

“How are we actually to go about this, though? Her strength has tripled from what we’ve heard, how she’s been slaying the Sanctuary members. She could kill us all if that child truly is using her as a vessel.”

Rin didn’t hear the next part of the conversation between Omnir Kalflax, Antel and Helvenna clearly enough to decipher it, her head swimming from the potion still. Blinking hard, she attempted to bring herself around more, taking deep breaths, waiting for her head to clear. 

“I’m a reasonable woman. I’m not going to kill you if you just let me leave. Where is Geralt? What have you done with him and Riley?” she asked, fighting the energy of her unborn child rising up within her. Her little one was not happy at all, nether was she. She couldn’t just burn them all though. She was smarter than that. 

“They’re back on the mainland, both suspended in sleep. We needed you alone, Rin, not to be influenced by Geralt,” Omnir Kalflax stated, coming to her side. “We cannot let you leave, though. Not until we’ve reached a solution what to do about this.” He then added, pointing to the swell of her belly.

“We?” she asked incredulously. “There is no we here. The only we that exists in regards to this child are her father and I. It’s none of your business!” 

“No, Rin. We know about how she manifests within you, her power. We’ve heard all about it from people the Sanctuary have been attempting to recruit, the townsfolk you’ve encountered along your journey thus far who have been less than their usual bigoted selves on account of the child. 

“Since we heard that you were their target and why, we knew we had to intervene. While we don’t agree with their stance that the baby should not come to be, we must decide what is best when she does arrive,” he stated, Rin feeling perplexed and angry.

“As I fucking stated, Kalflax, this doesn’t concern any of you,” she argued, her former Omnir interrupting.

“Ahhh, but it does, young ember. It does. If that child can manifest her power through you and you’re only a few months along, what on earth will she be able to do once she’s born? It reflects badly upon us all, to have a child of one of us, unleashed and unhinged upon the world like that,” he stared, Rin having to hold back both hers and her daughter’s desire to harm him at what she’d heard. 

“So, this concern of yours is a mere public relations matter to you? Well, of course it fucking is. None of you truly cared about any of us, only when we ascended and now so it seems only when we’re not bringing shame upon your fucking precious Order of the Embers! We can handle our own child, Kalflax. We will teach her right from wrong,” Rin stated angrily, shaking her head in utter disbelief at his stance. 

“I fear she will be born with the kind of power impossible for either of you to control, therefore here is where you must remain while we decide the future,” he told her firmly. “It isn’t safe for you to be out there, doing what you are doing. You don’t have a proper grasp over her power. If she’s used you as her vessel once, Rin, she will do it again.”

“No, that is where you are gravely wrong. Believe me, right now if I let her use me, become her conduit, she’d destroy you all in moments. I’m not allowing her to do this. I can control my child. She is within my body and for as long as that is so, no one decides anything for me. For her! I wish to leave, right now.” Standing up, she made a move towards the door, the three embers all descending upon her. 

Kalflax and Antel she managed to throw across the room, but in her haste to move them as well as the residual effects of the potion, she wasn’t quick enough to prevent Helvenna from shoving a rag soaked in the very same liquid across her mouth, knocking her out once more. 

She was kept asleep for a couple of days, the rag being topped up whenever she stirred, finally being brought around for more conversation on the fourth, finding herself unable to move. They’d chained her arms and legs to the concrete bed she was kept upon, Rin yanking at her restraints. Not even her strength could break them. 

“We need to enter discussions now, Rin. Please, you should forget the notion that you are going to leave. We’d like to present you with the options we deem suitable, going forward. You shall not be able to handle this child alone once she is born and you cannot be allowed to continue traveling the Continent and risking us all over your treatment of the Sanctuary. 

“We have the safety of the other embers working there to consider. It is not just public relations, as you so labelled it. This means you must be kept away from them. Slaughtering the Sanctuary is merely lowering yourself to their level,” Anton began, before Rin cut it.

“It’s self-defence. Kill or be killed, exactly what you all taught me to do when up against monsters. Those puritanical cunts are monsters, Anton,” she spoke strongly, turning onto her side and reaching to cradle her bump. At least she could still reach it with one hand in her current incapacitated state.

“While you are here, you shall not need to slaughter anyone. You are safe, Rin. We truly mean you no harm. The only reason we’ve been administering sleeping potion and have now chained you up is purely precautionary, for our own safety. Please see this.” She snorted in reply, Anton continuing. 

“Now, we have two choices, two courses of action we can take. Number one is that the child is born and handed over to us until we manage to collectively find a way to control her. You shall still see her, but day to day mostly she will be with the order while we use everything at our disposal to find a way to control her powers,” he began. 

“Experiment on her, you mean?” Rin charged him with, her anger rising. 

“In a manner, yes. Then of course there is the second option. Arran root is still a consideration, before a still birth.” Closing her eyes as she clutched her bump, it took absolutely everything she had not to allow her daughter to do as she may through her. She would not prove them right, though. 

“All of this to protect yourselves? You’re all pathetic. I shan’t do either. Fuck you,” she spat, glowering at them all angrily. 

“Do not be like that, Rin. You have little other option. In fact, no other option. No one is coming for you, it’s just you here, with us. You have two choices. Pick one.” Antel told her, his tone as cold as she remembered it to be before her ascension. 

He left her alone after that, Rin stroking her bump as she talked to her little one, trying not to fear the future. She wouldn’t terminate her child and she certainly wouldn’t hand her over either. She then felt brighter, remembering that she did have a third option. 

“No matter what they’ve done, your daddy will find a way out of it. He’ll come and find us.” She whispered, knowing that to be the absolute truth. Geralt would come for them…

“Daddy, daddy, wake up!” His head felt heavy, his throat dry and eyes stinging as he opened them and blinked a few times, rubbing his face and sitting up to see the same little girl who had visited his dreams back when he was deciding whether or not a future as a father was what he wanted. 

“What… how?” he began, feeling befuddled. 

“I can do this, come to you in your sleep. I’ve always been able to. I can’t wait to meet you properly, daddy,” she began, throwing her arms around his neck. Holding her, she felt so real, warm and soft, his little girl who looked so much like him, white hair and the same beautiful hazel eyes her mother had. “Mummy and I are on Rholkrhaden Island. The order has her and they want her to decide terrible things to do with me.”

“I will find a way out of here and find you. When I talk to you, you remember what I tell you, don’t you?” he asked, referring to when he spoke to her in Rin’s womb. 

“That you won’t let anyone take me from you. I know. But you must be careful, daddy. They have you held under a sleeping potion. Whenever they see you stir, they make you sleep again. You need to trick them to free yourself. The ember watching you only has one eye. Blind him and you can escape. Wake up now, I love you. Wake up, daddy…” 

Coming round, he heeded his daughter’s words about being careful. He didn’t let on he was awake immediately, waiting and waiting until his mind was completely clear before moving his leg to signify his waking. He was chained up in what he assessed was the cellar of the home they’d been taken to, knowing he could likely break the restraints. If they were relying on sleeping potion, the chains were probably only a secondary precaution. 

After seeing him twitch, the ember guarding him soaked the cloth and rushed over to where Geralt lay, about to press it to his face again when suddenly his orange eyes shot open, focusing and kicking his legs out from under him before dragging him over and yanking against his chain, freeing one hand to drive his thumb straight into his remaining eye, just as his daughter had told him. 

The man screamed, Geralt yanking his other arm free before taking his head and pounding his skull off the ground, killing him instantly. At hearing the commotion, the other ember in residence came running down to the cellar, Geralt hiding behind the door and diving on him from behind when he entered, snapping his neck with one twist. With them dealt with, he now had to rouse Riley. 

“Hmmm, what?” he croaked sleepily as Geralt shook him from slumber, unfastening his bindings.

“Wake the fuck up, we’ve been held under the control of sleeping potion. They’ve taken Rin, we need to get to Rholrhaden Island.” At hearing those words, Riley came around a little more, still a little wobbly but at least being able to put one foot in front of the other. 

“We need to get to Tayliss before that,” he said as they searched the house, locating their swords and armour, Geralt stunning a few of the servants who made a move to stop them with an Axii.

“Why?” he snapped, pulling on the armour at a rush.

“Because she’s a potion queen and I know she’ll have something, or some kind of talisman that we can use to conceal ourselves. If they see us coming across the water, they’ll decimate us with fire. We need for them to not see us in our true form.” Geralt thanked the stars for his quick thinking, running with him from the house and down to the stables to collect the horses. 

They galloped over the terrain, Blanche secured at the end of a rope (there was no way Geralt would leave Rin’s beloved mare behind) between them, heading for Thymer Lorin, which was only seven miles north of where they’d been held. Whether it by luck or fortune, they were thankful the journey was short. 

If there was one thing Geralt could be glad of in a moment where he was burning with rage and concern for Rin and his child, it was that the greatest help they could ask for was within their grasp. 


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being tardy with the updates, guys. I will give you two today to make up for it! Thank you for your continued readership. I'd definitely love to hear from more of you if perhaps you could be enticed into leaving a comment? :)

“Hello, my darling. How are you?” Riley asked, greeting his ex-wife with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“No longer your darling, even though you do persist in referring to me as such,” she began, letting go to take a look at him. “What’s wrong? What trouble do you bring to my door?” Of course, knowing him as well as she did after being married to him for ten years, she knew when he was perturbed.

He and Geralt both explained everything to her right there in the candle lit welcome hall, Tayliss listening to every detail intently as she nodded, twirling a strand of her white blonde hair around her finger.

“I have exactly what you need. Follow me.” lifting her long, black dress she covered the floor quickly, reaching the steps leading to her tower, where she had her altar set up and much of her magical apothecary.

“A concealment spell or talisman won’t work, you still need to cross the water to reach the island. They’ll still be able to see the water beneath an invisible boat rippling and fire ball you right out of the sea. What I can do though is mix a potion which will have you take on their appearance. All you then need to do is navigate a boat across the water,” she continued with a smile.

“But we won’t look like anyone they know of. As soon as we come ashore, they will know,” Geralt stated, Tayliss shaking her head as she took his arm.

“Keep very still,” she told him, undoing the armour covering his arms and sniffing the fibres of his shirt. “Ember hair. I can smell two different types on you. Hold out your hand.” She then carefully extracted a hair with her long, pointed fingernails, placing it delicately on his hand before searching for the second.

“You’re too bloody clever for your own good,” Riley complimented her with, Tayliss winking a brilliant blue eye at him. That was the first thing which had attracted him to her all those years ago, her bright blue eyes. His time with her might have been over, but she remained the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Get out of my hair while I brew these, go and help yourselves to anything you like in the kitchen. Riley knows where everything is kept.” They both left gladly, their stomach’s growling from a lack of sustenance since they’d been held captive.

They found bread, cheese and a lot of fruit, eating plentifully and washing it down with the red wine Riley had missed since the dissolution of his marriage. Tayliss had a vineyard, wine was her passion besides her aptness for sorcery.

“So how do you know for sure that’s where Rin is being held? I mean it does seem obvious, but perhaps that’s what they want us to think? We shouldn’t discount that this could be a trap,” Riley asked, rolling crumbs beneath his finger until the formed a tiny little dough ball.

“My daughter told me.” Geralt received the facial expression he was expecting, Riley looking at him in a puzzled way before he continued. “She’s able to visit me in my dreams. She’s done it before and earlier this morning, she did it again to tell me where her mother was being held and exactly how to get out of our situation.”

“I suppose when we take into consideration her power, it isn’t hard to imagine that she can manifest herself in your dreams somehow. It makes me wonder though, how can Rin possibly be being held against her will when we take into consideration just how powerful the unborn force to be reckoned with is?” he questioned, Gerald raising his eyebrows and sighing.

“This is the reason I need to get to her, and quickly.” He paced around the kitchen, feeling useless as he waited for Tayliss to return, the mage appearing after a further hour, holding two black glass bottles.

“Whenever you feel your face starting to tingle, you have roughly twenty seconds to sip more or your true identities will be revealed. There’s enough there to keep you concealed for a week, should you need it.

“Go and get your ember, my house boy Ormand will travel with you to the coast and then bring your horses back here.” Taking the bottles and thanking her, they left at speed, Riley then suddenly turning back to take her face in his hands and kiss her on the lips.

“And she still tastes like cake. Damn, I’m a stupid man whore.” He exclaimed, winking and making her laugh through nose as she shook her head, watching him run after Geralt. Riley might have enjoyed taking different women to bed on a regular basis, but he always would regret that his issue with monogamy had cost him a woman like her, cake taste and so much more.

The coast was a half day ride away, the sailing distance to Rholkrhaden Island two days from their geographical location. If they were crossing from Peixe de Mar, the crossing would only take half an hour. It made Geralt extremely antsy from the moment they boarded the boat.

The plan they had devised as to why – as they were highly likely to be asked – they had left their charges and travelled back to Rholkrhaden was to say they fell under attack from the Sanctuary, the witchers in their guard being slaughtered and leaving them with no option but to flee home after finding themselves extremely outnumbered.

“You realise there is a chance they might not believe it. I think we are likely to be viewed with suspicious eyes, especially since those two embers have lived out on the Continent for so many years,” Riley said as they stood at the helm of the small ship they’d been able to hire.

It had cost a lot, but Geralt paid it gladly to the captain of the vessel. Pirates never came cheap, but they were more likely to sail to a place that most regarded as dangerous territory. The homeland of the embers was very much considered just that. He’d also agreed to wait for them, which was entirely necessary for a quick getaway.

“That is a chance I’m willing to take. What you need to remember also is that before Rin and the baby, the target upon embers was minimal. Now because of their involvement with what the Sanctuary consider to be an abomination, anyone who comes into contact with her is fair game. They should believe that.” He was quiet then, standing there staring out at the ocean ahead, willing the ship to move faster.

He have swam there if it would get him to the island any quicker, the only thing he was truly relieved at in that moment was knowing just how strong Rin was. Whatever they were inflicting upon her, she could handle it. She was tough. That didn’t stop him from being worried though, needing her to be where she belonged, back at his side.

“I’m coming, my fiery beauty.” He whispered into the early morning fog, a frown etching his forehead that would not leave until he had his ember back in his arms.

“Rin, wake up, do not tell them I’m undoing these but here. You should at least be able to eat unfastened. I’m trusting you not to harm me,” Helvenna spoke as she undid the bindings of a sleepy Rin, moving the small table near to the bed so she could eat. She’d brought her a dinner of sausages, roast potatoes and broccoli, the food being about all Rin ever missed from her former home.

Immediately, Rin was suspicious. Giving the food a precautionary sniff, she then witnessed Helvenna take the cutlery and cut a small piece from each item, eating them with a shrug. “It isn’t tainted, see?” she spoke, smiling and handing the knife and fork over to her.

After witnessing such, she ate gladly, her stomach growling. While she did, Helvenna talked to her, the ember acting in a way that was far removed from the aloof, cold woman she’d known since she was a child.

“I really must enforce the point everyone else has been driving home, Rin. We honestly do not want any harm to come to you or the child. We’re thinking of you, dear girl, your welfare, your safety. This child that you carry is volatile, she presents a great danger.

“Think about it too, if the Sanctuary are pursuing you with this kind of might now, what on earth will they be like once the baby is actually born? That’s no life for a new born, fleeing across the Continent, not having a proper home,” she gently put to her, Rin balking at her words.

“She’ll have us, her mother and father. We are all she needs,” she spoke, spearing a small potato with her fork and mopping up the gravy with it before putting it in her mouth, eyeing Helvenna sharply.

She knew what was going on. The elder ember was attempting to wheedle her way in with kindness, showing her charity in untying her, likely attempting to bond through some false notion of sisterhood that never existed in the first place. “You won’t wear me down, Helvenna. I know what you’re doing. I’m too clever to fall for it.”

“Rin! There’s no trickery here,” she began, laughter rippling her voice. “You poor thing, you must be going through so much because of that fucking Sanctuary of the Blessed bastards. It isn’t surprising that you do not know whom to place trust in.” Reaching out she attempted to stroke her hair, Rin jerking her head away and scowling at her.

“I know exactly who to trust. The man who put this baby into my womb, that’s who, the man you snatched me from. If I could trust you at all, you wouldn’t have done that. You would not have segregated me from him. You’ve only done it because you attempt to wear me down and think such an exercise will be easier for you if he isn’t here. He’s one less person you have to try and cajole,” she spat, eyeing her with distaste.

Helvenna couldn’t answer immediately, being faced with the undeniable truth of their actions in making sure Geralt was kept out of the way. “Yes, I’ve got you there, haven’t I?” Rin added further, shaking her head. “It won’t work. You’re not taking my daughter from me and I’m not murdering her.”

“Well you have to fucking decide something, because there is no third option for you, you cocky little shit!” Flinging her unfinished dinner through the air with an angry flick of her hand, Helvenna stormed from the room, growing tired of Rin’s lack of conformity.

They’d expected her to buckle by now, having been held there for almost a week. They’d thought the fact she had no other choices other than those presented to her would have forced her hand into one of the options presented to her. They also knew she wouldn’t use the powers of her unborn child either, for if she did, then everything people were claiming about it was true; the baby would be a monster, an abomination.

What they didn’t bank on was her unshakable faith in both herself and Geralt. If she couldn’t escape under her own will, she knew Geralt would find a way to her. It would take considerably more than that to shake her faith in her witcher.


	22. Chapter 22

“Ahhhh, finally. He wakes,” Riley commented, sitting as he ate slightly stale bread and butter for breakfast, Geralt waking in below deck after sleeping for much of the night. It was surprising since the night before, he hadn’t slept a wink. “Here, get this down your neck. It’s a bit stale but it’s better than nothing.” 

Taking the bread, Geralt finished it quickly before heading up to the deck, relieving himself off the side of the ship before going to the captain. 

“You know there’s a chamber pot down below deck you could have pissed in?” he stated, navigating the ship through the early morning fog, his crew putting the sails down. 

“What’s the point? It’s only going to be tipped into the ocean anyway,” Geralt commented, the captain laughing. 

“Good point, mate. So, Rholkrhaden. Bit of a perilous place for a witcher, what with it being the home of those trained to replace you lot,” he commented, looking to his side momentarily. 

“Hmm,” he sounded in his throat, the captain looking like he expected him to embellish. “The mother of my child is being held there.” 

“Now that is interesting, since I thought the bollocks on you lot were purely ornamental after the quagmire of mutations you all got subjected to,” the captain spoke, Geralt raising his eyebrows.

“So did I, until I met her. Apparently this isn’t the case when having sex with an ember. How long until we arrive?” he asked.

“Tricky to say through this fog, but I should think some time before midday. So, tell me more about this ember of yours. Is she a beauty?” the captain asked, side eyeing Geralt with interest.

“The most beautiful.” He said with an air of finality. He wasn’t about to divulge the details of his lady with a man he’d only just met. 

When the coastline of the island finally came into view, the captain (who knew they were to change appearance) called down to them, Riley and Geralt drinking from their respective potion bottles. 

“Crikey! She fucking said it would itch when wearing off. She didn’t mention anything about me wanting to rip my own face off when it kicked in!” Riley hissed, feeling like he had insects crawling beneath his skin, the tingles and itches changing him into the man who, prior to his demise, had only one eye.

They both endured the terrible itching, their bodies following as the potion too hold, changing them physically as well as facially. By the time they were done, heading up on deck, the island was close, Geralt feeling his heart lurch as he knew he was sailing ever closer to Rin.

“Blimey, that’s a sight. That mage of yours knows her potions, doesn’t she?” the captain exclaimed when he turned to view them, shaking his head in wonder. He might have seen the kind of sea monsters the likes of which most wouldn’t be able to comprehend, but they were nothing compared to the sorcery of mages. 

As the boat neared the shore, Geralt witnessed a mostly deserted shoreline ahead, apart from a line of young children being made to run while holding large boulders aloft above their heads. Rin had told him of that, running until her muscles burned and her hands had been shredded by the boulder. She was only eight at the time, the new trainees currently being tested by such looking even younger than that.

A large Omnir they recognised as Kalflax appeared at the rear of the line, shouting at the children to hurry up and keep focused. When one boy fell, he received a foot to the ribs, an action that made both Geralt and Riley quietly fume. 

“At least we were never beaten if we stumbled, or otherwise,” the latter commented as the captain dropped anchor, calling to one of his crew to ready the row boat that would take them ashore. 

“Correct.” Geralt replied, watching the child pick up his boulder and continuing to run. The first few of the long line were running past them as they disembarked the small boat at the jetty, Omnir Kalflax telling the children to run on without him as he spotted them walking up the black shale beach toward him. 

“What in the name of the fire are you two doing here? My instructions were emphatic, guard the bloody witchers!” he raged upon approach.

“We were, except neither are alive any longer to guard. We fell under attack from the Sanctuary and barely managed to escape ourselves. Everyone else is dead. We came as soon as we could to inform the Order,” Geralt spoke, Kalflax’s eyes widening a little. 

“Well, that ought to rein Rin in a little. She’s being difficult, determined she will escape or her witcher will come for her. His death makes all of this easier. Go inside and inform Antel.” They nodded, walking past him, turning to one another with a slight smirk of triumph that they’d managed to fool him, thus overcoming the first hurdle. 

The fortress that was Vokken Idor stood out strongly against the cloudy grey sky, the black structure looking foreboding and inhospitable. 

“Just how are we to find Antel in that great pile?” Riley commented as they approached the gates, the guards opening the gargantuan iron structures, the creaking noise eerily filling the air. 

“I have no fucking idea. I’m hoping such might present itself to us once we’re inside, some kind of plan of Vokken Idor.” Geralt replied quietly as they continued through the gates. Once inside the structure though, they sadly found no such thing. However, while touring the halls in some hope of being able to find other clues, a stroke of luck presented itself.

“You two do realise such fraternisation is utterly forbidden within Vokken Idor, do you not?” Riley suddenly roared, pulling two teenage trainees from within a nook in the wall where he’s spied them kissing. 

“I’m sorry, we’re sorry, we…” the boy began, tripping over his words.

“We’re taking you both straight to Antel. Lead the way.” It was absolutely genius, Geralt conveying such silently with a look, making Riley smile proudly before they neutralised their expressions and followed the two scared teenagers. 

He remembered Rin telling him once that all friendships were strictly forbidden, such bonds banned, so knew that kissing would be even more heavily frowned upon and thus give him the perfect excuse to have them lead he and Geralt right to where they needed to be. It was a stroke of perfect timing if ever there was one.

They walked for what seemed like forever, up narrow staircases, through corridors that blasted the kind of furious draughts that made them shudder (and have to conceal such since embers did not feel the cold as easily, running hot) Geralt sniffing the air discreetly for any traces of Rin’s scent. He couldn’t detect any, though.

Finally, they reached a large, black oak door, Riley reaching out to knock it. 

“Come,” came the voice of Antel from the other side, the ember sitting at a large desk, smoking a long, thin pipe. “Johan, Dengheli, what are you two doing here, and why do you bring these trainees?”

“We caught them kissing. As for why we are here, we’ve had an issue with the Sanctuary,” Geralt informed him concisely, Antel frowning heavily at the two teenagers.

“Fifty laps of the corridors, my office being the start and end point. If you’re caught again, I’ll seal your mouths shut with hot iron. Do I make myself clear?” They nodded, shaking with fear at such a prospect before running from the room. “Those two will likely end up as charred bones,” he then laughed cruelly, standing from his desk and coming around to their side. “So, this issue?”

“The Sanctuary attacked us, stormed the house and killed the servants, the witchers also. We were outnumbered so begrudgingly fled here as soon as we could,” Geralt explained, Antel not looking too bothered at all.

“You both did the right thing, well done. This now of course makes it easier to manipulate our hostage. We’re not getting through to her at all, she isn’t making it easy, still believing her Geralt of Rivia will come to her aid. I’m glad the big, white haired brute is dead, personally. 

“It makes our job simpler and also, I never much liked him. I don’t think he deserved half the legendary status bestowed upon him,” he sniffed, Geralt wanting to punch him in the face, but for no other reason than referring to Rin as a hostage. He could say what he liked about him. 

“Kalflax was unmoved also,” Geralt informed him, Antel nodding.

“Well, I suppose I’d better fucking head down there for what feels like round number three hundred and eighty-seven with her, then, the stubborn bitch. The genuine like I felt for that girl has melted away in the face of her lack of willing to see sense. She has two clear options. Kill the foetus or hand it over to us once it is born so we can oversee these powers and control it, save us becoming more of a fucking target than we already are!

“I’m hoping that might change when I get to inform her that her lover is no more, not that I wouldn’t rather be doing something else, I’ll confide between us,” Antel said quietly, rolling his eyes at the thought of having to go and deal with the most stubborn ember he’d ever met. 

‘No, you can’t quite outsmart her, can you? Trying to manipulate her to your will. She’s too clever for that, you utter fuckwit’ Geralt thought, his anger rising. 

“Let us go, then. You never know, we might have more luck, fresh people going in there to try and make her see sense? I’m at a loss to know why you’re still presenting her with any fucking choice at all if she’s being so difficult,” Riley offered, shrugging. “I can go and break her fingers until she caves?” 

“Professional courtesy. I think Kalflax said something about not wanting for us to turn into the monsters we trained these youngsters to hunt, something like that. I wasn’t listening. Either way, you can deal with her gladly. I have scrolls to read and sign. She’s right at the top in the third tower room. See you at dinner.” 

With that, they departed, Geralt knowing he could smell his way to her from there, whichever one the third tower happened to be. It was just getting her out of Vokken Idor afterwards that would be the next challenge. 


	23. Chapter 23

Lying alone in her room, Rin sighed as she felt light, summer rain pattering against her face from the glassless window, reaching down to cradle her bump. She felt as if she’d gotten bigger over the last week since her kidnap, the swell now pressing against her trousers. She’d likely have to switch to wearing dresses soon, a garment she was not fond of.

“Me, in a dress. What a fucking unnatural sight such will be.” She spoke, stroking her bump affectionately. Sighing, she sat up at hearing someone on the other side of the door, awaiting whoever was likely to come and attempt to make her crack, force her decision.

The two men who entered she didn’t recognise for a moment, until the eyeless one prickled her memory. They were the two embers from the alleged safe house they were taken to prior to her kidnap.

“Baldie! We have arrived!” Riley?

“I know I neither look, smell, nor sound like me, but it’s me, Rin. It’s me.” Geralt?

Could she even trust anything anyone said to her? What kind of trick was this?

“How do I know for sure?” she asked, crawling back across the bed, recoiling from where Geralt had crouched in front of her.

“Who else knows that I call you baldie?” Riley asked.

“Anyone could have overheard you referring to me as that,” she stated, suspicion riddling her.

“Well, no one could know the scar I usually have on my inner right thigh is from your teeth. Much like they couldn’t know how we set the bedroom on fire, cracked the walls and broke the bed when we first had sex, could they?” At hearing those details, she knew. It was Geralt.

“I knew you’d come!” she cried, hurtling back across the bed and into his arms, holding him tightly. He felt so strange to her, feeling like someone else, his familiar bulk and white hair replaced by the pale orange hair and skinny body of Johan. “Apologies if I don’t kiss you, I really want to but the man you’ve taken the appearance of is a fucking horror.”

“No offence taken. Besides, we need to get you out of here and back to the ship we have waiting. Is there a back way we could quietly slip out through?” he asked, stroking her thighs and then lovingly resting a hand to her bump, leaning forward to kiss it before he undid her bindings.

“The kitchens. The hunters who bring the meat use the path that leads up and down there. We can cut through the trees to the east side and then down onto the beach when we’re halfway between the woods and Mount Rholk. Let’s go.”

They left the room quickly, very lucky that no one was guarding it, but very nearly came unstuck when they encountered Helvenna climbing the steps on their way down.

“Erm, why are you two here and where are you taking her?” she asked, pointing at Rin.

“We’ll explain it all later, but Antel wants to see her immediately. He tires of her bullshit and wants his answer.” Geralt said, taking Rin roughly by the arm in order to convey a feeling that she wasn’t willingly being taken away.

“Go on, then.” With that they descended the rest of the steps, not realising they’d just planted a seed of suspicion in Helvenna’s head when she witnessed them take her in the opposite direction to Antel’s office, a location she then ran towards. She knew that something was amiss.

Walking as fast as they could so not to rouse suspicion, they descended another set of stairs and wound through five long, twisting corridors until the smell of food started to waft under their noses.

“I don’t understand your reasoning, that kitchen is absolutely full of people,” Geralt spoke in hushed tones as they entered through the large doors.

“Including one woman who has a heart bigger than Vokken Idor itself. She won’t fail us,” she replied, scanning through the staff until she found her.

“Rin! Oh it’s been so long! I never thought I would see you again!” Kellah exclaimed, further delighted when Rin actually allowed herself to be hugged for the first time ever, even returning the gesture. “You’re having a baby too? Congratulations, lovely girl! Are you visiting us for long?” she then gasped after feeling the swell of her stomach press against her.

“Kellah, I’m sorry but I am not staying. I’m not here of my own volition. They took me, to try and force me to either kill or hand over my baby to them, for reasons I sadly have no time to explain. I’m doing neither. Please, do not tell anyone you saw me come through here. I have to escape through the back doors so I’m not seen. Please, if you do one thing for me,” she begged, the cook nodding and taking her head in her hands, kissing her forehead.

“Go. I never saw you.” She squeezed the hands of the kindly cook before fleeing across the kitchen and through the large double doors, all three moving towards the shelter of the trees and running as quickly as they could. Unfortunately for them, though, they were running directly towards three figures who absolutely weren’t about to let them pass easily.

Sending out a fall of fire from their hands, Omnir Kalflax, Antel and Helvenna stood solid at the end of the small woodland, that fire meeting spells sent out by the witchers immediately. It was them they sought to hurt with their fire after all, since Rin could not be burned. There was something she could do, though.

Holding out her hands, she gave her daughter the go ahead to use her, the fire sinking down as the three of them suddenly began to twist and convulse in pain, coughing up blood as they screamed.

“I held her off for as long as I could. I won’t any longer. You said you gave me choices, but truly, you gave me none. This is your fault.” She felt the waves of pure rage flood through her, the three people suffering greatly before without warning, their bodies exploded into guts and goo.

“Well played, tiny!” Riley told her bump, giving it a little pat with his hand before they picked their way through the remains of the exploded embers, continuing to run until they reached the beach, the captain calling for his crew to pull the anchor up as he watched them all dive into the water off the jetty in turn.

“You lot better be good swimmers. I can’t get a row boat to you in time and you have company too.” He spoke as he watched them swim through the water, embers running down the beach after them, throwing fire balls at the water.

“Get down!” Rin shouted, turning to see one heading for their heads, only just about able to send one of her own up to counter it. She then saw one sail right over her head, hitting the water just in front of the ship. They weren’t aiming for them. They were attempting to sink their only getaway.

“Man the cannons!” the captain roared, watching Rin furiously attempting to deflect the fire balls with fiery strikes of her own, Geralt holding her aloft with one arm while he pulled them both through the water with the other. Just then, the boom of a cannonball being fired almost deafened them, the black ball hitting the beach and blowing the embers backwards, sand cascading everywhere.

Three more followed, Rin’s fire power assisting too as she claimed two lives, the three remaining embers still continuing their attempt to assail the ship. One of the crew dropped a rope ladder over the side, Geralt throwing Rin up out of the water to catch onto it and climb it first.

Once on board, she ran to the front of the boat, throwing out her arms as she screamed in effort, sending a wave of devastating size right towards the beach. The emotional duress she’d been under for the past week had exhausted her, that last combined effort from both her and her baby the last thing she remembered before collapsing onto the deck.

“Mmm, hello. You look like you again,” Rin spoke after she came around, looking up to see the handsome face she’d missed for the last eight days.

“Yes, which means you have to let me kiss you now,” he replied, stroking her hair.

“Gladly.” Sitting up from where she’d been lying with her head on his lap, she moved to seat herself atop his strong thighs, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him happily, his one arm around her tightly, the other hand stroking her bump.

“I missed you both so much. It gave me a lot to think about, taking our safety into consideration. We have no choice but to hide away. Where I do not know, but for the moment we are welcome at Tayliss’ home. We will be safe there,” he told her, resting his forehead to hers as he stroked the small of her back.

“I missed you too,” she began, pausing to enjoy kissing him a little more. She felt so relieved in that moment, just to be back in his arms. It was the only place she actually felt safe after her ordeal.

“I agree with you too. It makes me feel embittered and furious to even suggest doing such, for people of our strength and formidability to even consider hiding away, but we have to think of her. We can’t keep running forever, either. She needs a home, a place where we can raise her.

“The constant looking over my shoulder is weary too, as is having to keep holding her back when she becomes angry and uses me as her vessel to exact her rage. I haven’t told you how severe it’s become, I haven’t wanted you to worry, but she’s becoming so strong now,” she continued to explain.

“I saw it clearly. Making people explode is nothing short of barbaric. I wonder what it’ll do to her too, she shouldn’t be so invested in this. She isn’t even born yet and she’s so focused on keeping us safe when it should be the other way around. An unborn baby should be quietly growing, not waging war upon the enemies of her parents,” he spoke, Rin stroking his hair and nodding.

“Where do we go, though?” she asked, feeling a little daunted. How would they even get there? They now had both the Sanctuary of the Blessed and the Order of the Embers on their tails.

“We can talk about that another time. You look exhausted, so go to bed. The captain said on account of you being with child that we could take his quarters and he’ll sleep elsewhere, so go and get comfortable,” he said, nodding in the direction of the cosy looking bed opposite where they were sitting on a large, leather sofa.

“I shall, but firstly, I need to wash.” Once clean, she virtually fell into the bed, Geralt kissing her head and leaving her to sleep peacefully, something she did for many, many hours. In fact, she didn’t wake for twelve hours and only then it was because Geralt had climbed into bed with her. She cuddled up to him and then went right back to sleep.

For the rest of the voyage back to the Continent, all she did was eat, occasionally come up above deck for some fresh air and sleep. It really hit home to Geralt just how tired she was, even more so than he’d realised. He looked forward to getting her back to the safety of Tayliss’ home.

Once ashore, they managed to hitch a ride on the back of a merchant’s cart heading in the general direction of Thymer Lorin, walking the rest of the way to where they thought the fortress was located.

“Ahhh, she’s a clever witch. She’s hidden it, but when you know the signs of the spell, you can always find it again,” Riley commented, walking towards the empty space the homestead should have been visible within, taking a series of steps forward, to the side, back and to the other side before suddenly, the black bricked building became partially visible. “Come on!” He called, waving them over with his hand.

Once inside, Rin was introduced to the beautiful former wife of Riley, Tayliss kindly telling her she’d laid out some fresh clothes, having those she had stowed away in Blanche’s saddle bags cleaned.

“I shall have a bath drawn for you in your room, by the fire too since it is getting quite chilly now autumn is upon us. You embers run hot, of course, but for comfort at least, a nice ambience. I have food laid out in the kitchen, go and eat while I have my servants ready everything,” she explained, giving Rin a little hug before she left them to it.

“So, she’s lovely, gorgeous, a powerful sorceress and has a house as beautiful as this one. You really, really fucked up, didn’t you?” she joked, turning to Riley.

“I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better, reminding me of what a twat I can be.” He replied, putting his arm around her shoulders as she laughed and kissing her head.

In that moment, things felt normal again, something Rin was glad of above anything else.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four**

“How is she?” Tayliss asked as Geralt entered the plush surroundings of her sitting room, taking a seat next to Riley on the red velvet sofa.

“Happily covered in bubbles, after she’d proclaimed I stank and dragged me in with her. She’s definitely getting back to her usual self,” he replied, smiling as he remembered the sight of her in the tub under a barrage of foam. “As for the rest, she’s a very strong woman, she’ll be okay eventually.”

“When I hugged her earlier, I felt the power of your unborn infant radiating out of her. It must be taking her every bit of might she has, controlling her like you told me she had been,” she commented, sipping her tea while ruffling the feathers of Omen, her huge pet raven sat atop her shoulder.

“Yes, she revealed this to me on the ship. I can see it too, she looks so exhausted. Pregnant woman are tired a lot as it is, so I’ve come to learn. This running, fighting and having to rein in the murderous rages of our child is taking its toll upon my ember,” he replied, Tayliss nodding.

“My home is yours for however long you both wish to stay, until a solution can be found. I am working on something for you both now though that should make travelling a little safer. I shan’t say too much, but concealment potions will not be suitable for long term use and I wouldn’t want to risk giving one to Rin in her condition, so I’m looking into an alternative.

“As you saw, I also took it upon myself to hide my home, so anyone from the Order of the Embers who I anticipate will be making a crossing as we speak, shall not be able to locate Rin and attempt to take her back to Rholkrhaden. Same for those Sanctuary of the Blessed arseholes also,” she spoke, Omen flying over to Riley when he patted his shoulder.

“I’ll take you up on that with much gratitude, Tayliss. If you’ll excuse me,” he replied, standing up.

“You go be with your girl, you have lost time to catch up on,” she told him, squeezing his hand affectionately when he walked past her. She’d always liked Geralt.

“Just remembered she’s the most knackered she’s likely ever been, my friend. Don’t go and cock bother her right away,” Riley called after him.

“Fuck off.”

“I expected that.” He told Tayliss, who just shook her head. He’d never change.

Once Geralt arrived in the room he and Rin were staying in, he saw how true Riley’s words were, taking in a sleeping Rin, still within the slipper bathtub, her head lolled over the side as she snored softly.

Lifting her from the water carefully, he took her to the bed and lay her down, drying her off before removing the tub of water from the room for Tayliss’ staff to deal with. When he came back in, he found her awake, smiling at him while drying her hair.

“You look happier, much more refreshed too,” he commented, coming to lie by her side on the bed.

“I feel it, on both counts. I finally feel like I can rest properly, at least for now. Mind you, after much sleep and that brief bath time snooze, I’m not so tired any longer. In fact, there is something else I would much rather be doing,” she told him, moving to sit astride him, unbuttoning his dark shirt and kissing his chest.

“That something is me, I guess?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Correct.” Falling into a kiss, she felt his powerful arms wrap around her, hands smoothing over her damp hair and down her back. “But Geralt? I’m aching quite a bit still from a week on a concrete block for a bed, so perhaps be a little more careful with me than usual? I don’t mean boring, but…” she trailed off, silenced by his mouth.

“I can be sexually annihilating without needing to administer such brutally.” He assured her, mouth ghosting her neck before his lips pressed against her throat, sitting up beneath her as his arms locked around her lower back.

Just the mention of him being brutal with her made her pulse race, but Rin realised her body likely couldn’t cope with it, no matter how hard she fought against it. Instead, she would enjoy the more sedate pace that burned slowly but just as brightly between them, their skin illuminated by only the moonlight as it became revealed by the removal of clothes. Well, Geralt’s clothes as Rin was already having her nakedness kissed by him.

A large hand pressed into her back as his other slid between her legs, tongue circling her nipples as Rin grazed his arms with her nails, digging them in a little when she felt his fingertips begin a slow, firm circle on her clit.

Her nerve endings began that merry dance of reaction to his touch, gasping against his mouth as their tongues swirled sensuously, her hand slipping down to feel the hot bulge tenting his trousers. He bit her cupid’s bow in response, his body jerking as his excitement grew. He’d missed her touch. There was something he’d missed even more, however.

“Stay there.” He told her, shifting beneath her and moving to the end of the bed, his face level with her sex, tongue taking a long, slow, flat lick at her. No tease, no delayed gratification, he just needed her against his mouth.

Her soft gasps filled his ears like beautiful music being played, Geralt twirling his tongue against her clit repeatedly, feeling the silk of her arousal coating his lips. “Are you too sore to allow me to smack your arse while you ride my face?” he asked.

“Never, ever, ever, ever.” She confirmed enthusiastically through a breathless sigh, a slap of great magnitude ricocheting her backside a second later, making her squeak in delight. She loved that he’d never be _too_ gentle with her, because that wasn’t him, nor was it her.

The beat of his tongue, assailing her clit with warmly delivered precision was utterly divine. The nights she had spent alone lying on a concrete bed seemed very far away now she was reunited with her lover, warm, safe and at that precise moment, exceedingly aroused.

Her hips started to sway a little, cunt purling against his tongue as he opened his eyes and happily watched her writhe, his hands running down her sides before smacking her again, the noise echoing through the room.

She gasped at the feel of being sucked, Geralt utterly gorging himself on her cunt as her legs trembled and tightened a little either side of his head, his aroused groan adding to the stimulation, vibrating through her sex before she felt his hand at her bum again, leaving another red handprint behind.

Suck, smack, suck and smack again, the repetition of such ministrations had Rin hollering in bliss as he intensified what he gave, talented enough to beat the tip of his tongue against her clit while he sucked on it simultaneously. What he could do with his mouth could almost be categorised as godly, if you asked Rin.

“Fuck, I want you so much,” she sighed, head tipping back before a low moan exited her throat.

“Then please, do feel free to have me at any point you so desire.” Right then, that was when she so desired, dismounting his face to yank his trousers off, climbing back astride him and guiding his hardness into the plush, hot velvet of her saturated cunt.

“Only a week without and I almost forgot just how fucking big it is. You feel utterly incredible.” She told him, Geralt sitting up beneath her as his mouth captured hers in a fiery kiss, her heartbeat like thunder in his ears.

That feeling of him filling and stretching her had Rin moaning in pure rapture, holding his face in her hands and kissing him hungrily, his deep, rumbling moans making little sparks ripple her stomach.

Without a doubt, the man between her legs, pushing her back to suck on her nipples as his hands squeezed her full breasts, was the sexiest she had ever known. Gods, the things even listening to him moan did to her.

Travelling his gorgeous, thick, long erection, she delighted in the feeling of every engorged vein stimulating her so thoroughly, dragging against her tight walls as his hands grasped her bum, slapping it again a few times as he bit the side of her neck.

A rich current of darkly erotic energy flowed between them, Rin’s nails gliding down his back as she sped up a little, gasping and moaning with delight at the sensations conjured by his cock. They panted against each other’s mouths, kissing fervently, Geralt as usual feeling like he was losing himself to her completely, her sexual fire burning like an inferno.

The sexual fire burned between them for a few more hours that evening, certainly longer than Geralt had expected, Rin surprising him further by remaining awake afterwards too. He’d predicted she’d likely fall straight to sleep, seeing that her eyes still looked shadowy. He knew she remained tired from it all.

They spoke primarily of the time they were parted, while both enjoying being reunited more than they could ever have imagined. Their affection for one another was growing stronger by the day.

“It surprises me that I actually could come and bring you back here at all. It crossed my mind so much before this little one here came to me in my sleep, thinking that you could possibly be dead. I do wonder it too, why they just didn’t kill you if they were so fretful about how your actions are bringing the ember community into disrepute,” he shared candidly with her, stroking her belly beneath the sheet.

“They claimed they wanted to take her to see why she is the way she is and discover a way to control her powers, but I firmly believe that to be horseshit. Honestly, I think they wanted to weaponise her, use her powers for their own gain, but be able to use them in a measured way that suited themselves.

“In short, they wanted to remove us from the equation entirely. I doubt after I’d given birth they’d have let me see her at all, regardless of what they claimed. With a child that was half ember, half witcher and all inconceivable power on their hands, imagine what they could have done,” she explained, Geralt frowning at the very thought of someone trying to use his daughter in such a way.

“This is why we must escape the chase somehow, anyhow at this point. We need to find somewhere extremely remove and plan for her arrival. We’ll have our work cut out for us as it is, raising a new born. Taking her powers into consideration, it’ll be even harder. If there are any people cut out for such though, it’s us,” he assured her, kissing her forehead.

“All of the worries that come with her being what she is and the outside interest caused by such aside, how do you feel about becoming a parent?” she asked, reaching out to stroke stray wisps of hair that framed his face.

“Excited, but very nervous. I fear I might drop her, or something else perilous. I’m woefully unprepared. How about you?” he replied and asked, Rin resting her head down on the pillow as she covered herself properly with the sheet and blanket.

“Calm, funnily enough. I have this strong feeling that everything will be okay and we shan’t mess it up, I honestly do. I feel very confident about it, but due to hormonal duress likely to come, I predict I shall probably panic at some point in the future,” she confided, laughing as she turned, Geralt wrapping his arm around her as she shuffled back against him.

“Plan your panic for when I shall be having mine, then we can get them out of the way at the same time.” They shared laughter at his words, falling asleep soon after.

There were many questions they needed to ask themselves and solutions which had to be reached over that future, most of which would begin in the following days. Firstly, they had to escape the radar both the Sanctuary of the Blessed and the Order of the Embers, who were both still out there searching the Continent for them, even as they slept.

It was a pursuit that wouldn’t be given up easily.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for being so neglectful with the updates, guys. I'm going to leave a few chapters now to make up for it.

“You and Geralt, you certainly enjoy going at it whenever you get a chance, don’t you?” Tayliss commented as Rin entered her tower room, turning from where she’d been blending herbs while brushing the residue from her fingers. 

“I could lie and blame the pregnancy, but I shan’t. We’re quite insatiable, so I apologise for the fact that doesn’t exactly make us the politest of house guests,” she offered, taking a seat after Tayliss pulled out a velvet covered stool at her side. 

“Oh, you misunderstand, Rin. It wasn’t a criticism; sex is a decadent pastime everyone should enjoy freely, so you go right ahead. Besides, you were done in under an hour, just now. That’s quick for you two, I couldn’t help but notice,” she told her, laughing a little. She and Geralt… they weren’t quiet. “So, what brings you to my tower?” 

“In the interests of not being rude, I thought I’d come and take an interest in everything Riley says makes you an efficient and formidable sorceress,” she commented, Tayliss smiling, liking how the ember who had been quite quiet around her so far was now beginning to open up. Geralt had warned her that while she wasn’t rude, Rin was a little reserved with new people.

“Well, you’re just about to witness how my new experiment is going. I’m attempting to devise concealment charms for both you and Geralt. I don’t know if there are any side effects to administering a potion to a woman in your condition, and you and Geralt need to travel under concealment for your safety, of course. So, let’s see. I shall be the test subject.” Tayliss replied, picking up a long piece of leather with a charm attached.

It was various little pieces all woven together on a thin piece of metal, encircling some kind of crystal. Just from being near it, Rin could feel its palpable energy as Tayliss put it around her neck and waited for a few moments, picking up an ornate hand mirror to check her appearance.

“Oh my… that’s incredible,” Rin exclaimed, watching Tayliss change before her eyes, very impressed by her skills.

“Hmmmm, no. It isn’t good enough, sadly. I still look like me, but with a beard and a few facial scars. I need to improve, but I’m getting there, at least,” she replied, taking off the necklace again.

“So, how do all these little components work together in order to perform the illusion?” Rin asked, gesturing to the pendant. Tayliss gave her the kind of explanation she would understand (being non-magical, some finer details would be lost on her totally) on how the components and magic bound together to create the spell, Rin utterly fascinated as she listened. 

“My magic seems simple by comparison,” she stated, beginning to put a plait in the side of her hair to bind it away from her face. 

“Rin, you can evoke fire from within yourself. That is utterly amazing to me! I cannot do such. I only wish I could,” Tayliss responded with encouragingly, not wanting the ember to feel less so compared to her talents. Fire magic was an incredible thing, something that embers were of course famed for. 

“Still though, all of this is incredible. How long do you think until you’ll achieve a favourable result?” she asked, holding her finger over a nearby candle and making it suddenly glitter prettily, the flame crackling and bursting into little sparks, Tayliss applauding softly. 

“It’s very difficult to say, but until I do please know that you are most welcome here in my home. I get lonely at times, not having many friends nearby. It’s nice to have people here, to spend time with Riley again. I haven’t seen him in a long time,” she told her, Rin finishing her plait and using a little piece of thin thread she found on the table to tie it with before beginning one on the other side. 

“You both still seem quite close, despite your past,” she noted, the mage sighing.

“I still love that man dearly, you know. I’ll never not be angry about how it all ended though, but not with him. With myself. I knew the kind of man he was before I married him, but I always thought our love would be enough. Ultimately, it wasn’t. He did well, he remained faithful to me for six years until that wandering cock of his began to wander into other women,” she explained, Rin nodding. 

“He is an absolute tart, isn’t he?” Rin replied, Tayliss nodding as she laughed softly. 

“That he is, Rin. You’re very lucky with Geralt. That man is so devoted to you. I’ve never seen him like this over a woman, but then again I’ve never really seen him entertain the affections of a woman for longer than a few weeks.” She informed her, taking a small brush and sweeping herb remanence from her alter into her hand. 

Rin wasn’t sure if it was pregnancy hormones or something different, but after that brief mention of Geralt never really being interested in women long term, she couldn’t help but wonder what the draw was with her.

She knew she was attractive, this she never doubted. Rin also knew she had a loyal heart as well, but was it just the baby who had drawn him closer to her? Would this even be happening with him had she not been carrying his child? She doubted not. After all, initially they couldn’t stand the sight of one another. 

“You look troubled,” the man in question put to her later, finding her sitting on the small wall in the middle of Tayliss’ rose garden, dipping her feet in the fish pond. Honesty, she decided, was the best policy.

“Geralt, would you still desire me as you do if not for the baby?” she asked as he came to sit beside her, laughing through his nose as he frowned a little, not sure she was serious. 

“Of course I would. I’ve grown to have a very genuine affection for you, regardless of the fact you’re the mother of my child. Although I will admit that plays a big part of it, she isn’t exclusively the reason why I desire you as much as I do,” he told her, Rin shielding her eyes from the late afternoon sun as she looked out across the garden.

“Why though?” she questioned.

“You need for me to list the reasons?” He asked, thinking likely this was all being stirred by her pregnancy hormones. She’d accidentally trodden on a spider that morning and cried for ten minutes about it, apologising over and over to the tiny corpse. She nodded at his request, Geralt trying not to show his amusement. Rin was rarely adorable, but in this moment, she was exactly that. 

“Well, I very much enjoy how formidable you are, first and foremost. If there was ever a woman who would turn my head and keep my interest for longer than most, she’d have to be the strong type, which is exactly what you are. 

“Beneath that though is a truly beautiful soul, someone who has one of the purest loves for animals I’ve ever seen. Calming Roach in the way you did after the basilisk spooked her, saving the butterfly from drowning, mourning the spider this morning, it shows what a good heart you have. 

“Then there’s the fact that nothing about you is contrived, including your ability to make me laugh. I often take life much too seriously, something which I feel you can be guilty of too sometimes. 

“I like that we can amuse one another out of the stoic demeanours we sometimes hang onto a little too tightly. There, is that sufficient? Oh, Rin.” He finished, shaking his head and wrapping his arm around her when he saw tears streaming down her face, sniffing heavily as she waved her hands and attempted in vain to cease her sniffling. 

“You’re so lovely, please go back to being an arsehole to me for a while, redress the balance. I can’t cope, these stupid bloody hormones!” she squeaked, drying her eyes. 

“Okay, fuck off, then,” he snorted, uncoiling his arm and giving her a shove in the shoulder. It worked, she burst out laughing immediately, shuffling closer to him and kissing his chest as he held her again, kissing her hair. “You’re fucking wonderful, baby or not. I think the world of you.” He told her, holding her close as they enjoyed the last of the sun, returning indoors once it had set.

It was a further three days before Tayliss yielded any results from her charms, finally getting the alchemy behind them just right, the concealment absolutely perfect. They disguised Geralt as an older man with long, black hair and a beard and Rin as a woman in her forties, with dark blonde hair not dissimilar to how her own looked, prior to the fires of Mount Rholk burning it away. 

“So, these will allow you to move, but I propose that when you leave here, you do so via a portal. I’ll open one up to take you north, I shan’t know exactly where, but it’ll move you a few hundred miles from the last location both the Order of the Embers and the Sanctuary of the Blessed last saw you in.

“They know something is amiss. They continue to circle the area, I think their mages can feel my magic in the air, but they’re not as powerful as me, they cannot detect the spell that hides the fortress,” she spoke, Riley suddenly interjecting.

“I’m going to need one too. I want to travel with them, they’ll need help, especially when the baby arrives. Both parties hunting them down know my appearance too, so I shall need concealment,” he spoke, Geralt surprised at his words. He hadn’t expected such from him. 

“Thank you. That means a lot,” he told him, gripping his shoulder, Riley smiling.

“You are like a brother to me, of course I want to assist where I can.” Now she knew how, Tayliss created another charm for him in a few hours, letting it settle for a day before it was ready, the magic woven in and ready to use.

“Thank you so much for your hospitality. I honestly appreciate what you’ve done for us more than you could know,” Rin told the mage as they stood in her courtyard, all prepared for their journey through the portal.

“You are most welcome, Rin. Please, when all of this is over, do come and visit me. I look forward to meeting this special little one,” she replied, stroking her bump and kissing her cheek before saying her goodbyes to Geralt and Riley.

“Being new parents will surely be exhausting work when they baby comes. Look after them.” she told her former husband, hugging him warmly.

“On that you can be certain.” He turned to mount Ed, Tayliss opening the portal. She recited a spell, asking the portal magic to take them to the place they would be safest and waving as Geralt rode Roach through first, Rin and Blanche next and Riley behind. 

They all landed safely with a thud on the other side, the horses spooking a little at the sudden change in scenery, the atmosphere cold compared to where they’d come from. 

“Where the fuck are we?” Rin asked, Geralt and Riley looking ahead to a very familiar structure. 

“Kaer Morhen.” Her lover replied, looking on at his former home, the School of the Wolf in the middle distance. 


	26. Chapter 26

“I wonder why the portal decided to bring us here? Since what used to be our home is such a shadow of its former self,” Riley pondered, looking ahead at the fortress. His slightly sombre tone wasn’t lost on Rin, who remembered well his explanation behind his perpetual cheer. It was to distract himself from all that had happened to him at the place they now found themselves a short distance from. 

“Vesemir. That’s why.” Geralt spoke, moving Roach forward, Rin hanging back to a second as she reached for Riley.

“Are you alright?” she asked quietly, taking his hand. He was touched by her sweetness, by the fact she’d remembered what this place meant to him. He wasn’t as hardened to what he’d gone through as Geralt was. 

“Yes,” he lied. “No. But I shall be. I always knew I had to return at some point.” Geralt had found himself back at Kaer Morhen at several points in the time since his training, but Riley had always avoided the place like the plague. 

They rode forward, Rin riding up to Geralt’s side again, noticing that he was still on as high alert as she was, despite the fact all three were disguised. Tayliss had even made charms to conceal their horses’ usual colours, Ed now pure back, Blanche a palomino and Roach a bright bay with an entirely white face. She truly had thought of everything. 

“We’re okay. We can actually breathe for once. They wouldn’t even know it’s us, would they? Besides, whatever fractions of the Sanctuary exist in the north are yet to know we’re actually here. Again though, we’re concealed, even the horses look different. We’ll be fine,” she tried to reassure him, Geralt wanting to accept it, but still not quite being able to settle. 

Riding up to the fortress, Rin remarked that although the keep was beautiful architecturally, it had the same foreboding presence as Vokken Idor. It was the place where boys were turned into hardened men through incredibly trialling means. Just the memory had perturbed Riley enough to quietly remain riding behind them and he was no weak individual at all.

Arriving at a large gate, they waited for a while, the sound of footsteps echoing across a courtyard beyond becoming louder, a small door in the giant structure opening to reveal an elder witcher, his beard and hair both grey, his face lined from a hard life. 

“Who goes there?” he asked, Geralt riding forward, removing the charm from his neck. 

“It’s me, Vesemir,” he spoke, the man raising his eyebrows. 

“I sense I’m to be told quite the tale, if you’re coming back here under magical disguise,” he commented, making a motion with his hand, unseen men beginning to raise the gate. 

“You could say that.” Vesemir smirked a little, turning and walking back under the slowly elevating gate, his guests riding in after him. It was quiet at the keep, being that it was only just on the cusp of summer turning into autumn, most witchers only staying there over the harsh winters the likes of which Kaedwen suffered. 

Only another one, Lambert, resided there at present, passing through on his way further north so Vesemir told them after they’d entered the keep, Riley and Rin taking off their concealment charms.

“Riley, it’s been a long, long time. I never expected to see you back here. Is this your young lady you’ve brought here?” he then asked, gesturing to Rin.

“No, my young lady,” Geralt corrected, Vesemir raising his eyebrows in surprise. 

“Rin of Rholkrhaden,” she introduced herself, offering her hand. He shook it while giving her a once over glance, of course noticing her current state.

“It’s very gallant of you, Geralt. To be willing to take on another man’s child,” he told him, inclining his head towards Rin’s belly.

“I’m not. The child is mine, unbelievable as that sounds. I shall explain all though,” he told him, Vesemir’s eyebrows now raised so high, they threatened to vanish off his forehead entirely.

“I have four bottles of Elven whisky in my quarters I’m saving for winter. I shall be opening one of them tonight, I feel.” Geralt smiled, laughing thinly through his nose as he and Rin followed the elder witcher, Riley informing them he was going to ‘go and bother Lambert’ as he worded it. 

Once they reached the modest quarters, sitting on a very old pair of armchairs opposite Vesemir, who poured them drinks (Rin refusing since alcohol made her feel nauseous since becoming pregnant) Geralt began to explain their current predicament, the danger they were in as a result of that too. 

“The Sanctuary of the Blessed, it seems, grow in numbers by the day. They appeal to the small minded who would do away with our kind and that of Rin’s entirely, people who are easily open to the suggestion of such fanaticism,” he began, clearing his throat and sipping his whisky. “If I’m to be candid, it likely would have been better for everyone involved if you had decided against keeping the child.

“This, of course, you more than likely know already. You have made a brave decision to continue the pregnancy, being parents to one with such formidable power. I can’t imagine it will be easy for either of you, especially not you, Rin. Your current weakness is palpable, how her strength and having to hold onto such drains you,” he replied, Rin frowning.

“What drains me is hearing the opinions of those who think my baby is disposable,” she snapped, getting up and leaving the room. 

“Oh dear. I didn’t mean to antagonise her,” Vesemir stated coolly.

“It doesn’t take much, especially not in her current condition. I agree with her though, it does become tiresome to hear people share the opinion that it would be easier if your unborn child simply not exist,” he replied, eyeing his mentor carefully. He didn’t want to disrespect the man, but at the same time, what he said hadn’t been appropriate and this he did wish to convey.

“I was perhaps too candid, this I apologise for. Never knowing what it is like to be an expectant parent, I likely came across as flippant where I did not mean to,” he began, his tone sincere but not warm in the slightest. That simply wasn’t Vesemir’s way, although Geralt knew the man cared about him all he was emotionally able to. He just didn’t show it with warmth. “So, is it merely shelter you seek, or my counsel?” 

“A little of both. Ideally, your suggestions over remote locations where I could take Rin so we may raise our daughter away from those who wish to slaughter us all. This would be the most prudent thing you could help me with at the moment. We can’t run forever, disguised or not,” he replied, the elder man nodding sagely. 

“No, this much is true. I do wonder though, when the child is born if her power unleashed out of the safety of her mother’s womb will be palpable to those who seek to harm you? Then, you see, it doesn’t matter how you disguise yourself, or how far you run and where you hide. They will find you,” he shared, watching Geralt frowning deeply. 

It was a truth he wasn’t comfortable with hearing, knowing that his child would likely never know the normality that he and her mother desperately sought for her. The last thing they wanted for their precious baby was a life that even vaguely resembled their own childhoods. As it stood, hers was likely to be worse. 

“I hadn’t thought of that before, that her power would make her detectable to their mages,” he sighed, rubbing his stubbly face with his hand. Hearing that, it had made him suddenly feel his age. “Do you think such is applicable now?” He then asked, Vesemir getting up to go and stand on the stone balcony, overlooking the mountains. 

“I suppose if there are members of the Sanctuary hammering at the gate in the next few hours, then this is likely. Personally though, I doubt it. From what you’ve told me, so far it very much sounds like they’ve kept tabs on you by following you alone,” he replied, taking a deep breath of the clean air as Geralt came to join him. 

Vesemir than looked at him out of the corner of his eye a few times, his glance flitting between him and the mountains before he spoke. “You worry about what kind of father you shall make, don’t you? You needn’t, Geralt. If there was ever one of our kind capable of raising a child, it’s you. 

“You have a good head on your shoulders, you’re strong but not unyielding and beneath the fact you can be one of the most morose bastards I’ve ever met, there is a loving heart full of understanding and protection. The baby will be lucky to have a father like you.” 

Although his tone was as cool and flat as ever, the words he spoke took Geralt by surprise. He’d always viewed Vesemir as a father figure of sorts, seeking his wisdom in the past a number of times, but in all his life, he’d never heard him speak like that towards him. 

“Thank you, Vesemir,” he said with gratitude, sinking his whisky and setting the carved bone tumbler down on the small table behind him. 

“As for where you can go, do you remember the huntsman’s keep about twenty miles north of here, up in the Blue Mountains? It was still abandoned when I came through the pass earlier this year. It is in a sorry state of dilapidation, it likely needs a new roof too, but it would provide a nice, spacious home to raise a child within,” he suggested, Geralt nodding, remembering it from his childhood when his training had taken him and the other children close to that location.

The two men shared silence for a time, looking out at the Blue Mountains, mist swirling around them as the sun fully set, just the tiniest gilds from its glow glittering the tops of the tall pine trees. “I sense you are still troubled, Geralt.” Vesemir spoke, turning to face him.

“What if we cannot control her? What if her power is too great for either her mother or I to help her contain? Enillah said it wasn’t clear to see which way she would go, meaning there is likely duality to her nature. What the fuck am I to do if my daughter goes dark and I cannot bring her back?” he asked, a trouble that had plagued him since leaving the sorceresses hollow. 

“I think you already know what you have to do,” Vesemir spoke gravely, although it brought him no joy to point out the obvious.

“Then surely I am as bad as those who chase us at present,” Geralt grumbled, feeling very conflicted by such.

“No, because you will have at least tried to keep a rein on her power, if it gets to that point. You will have done everything you can and what’s more, you will have loved her more than you could likely ever imagine too. It wouldn’t be a mercy just for the rest of us if she is to pose an illimitable threat to mankind, it’d likely be a mercy on the child too. Let us hope it never comes to that, though.” 

Geralt left Vesemir at this point, going to search for Rin. Eventually, he found outside, sitting in the ruins of the old fencing arena, where the man he’d just left had first taught him how to fight with a sword so many years ago. 

He could see she’d been crying, sitting down behind her as he wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her head a few times as he stroked her arms affectionately. When she turned to him, it was with a very happy smile though, taking his hand and resting it to her belly. 

“She’s kicking. She just started about ten minutes ago.” She told him, Geralt feeling the tiny feet of his daughter striking out against his palm, smiling as he held her mother a little tighter. In that moment, everything stopped being so full of fear and dread and instead, it was just wonderful. 


	27. Chapter 27

“I have to say, that’s a very strange, but quite beautiful looking abode,” Rin stated as they rode towards the huntsman’s keep.

“I often thought the same when I saw it as a youngster.” Geralt replied as they rode towards the home, which gladly still looked abandoned. It was a brick built structure and round in shape, with three levels, stained glass windows and a chimney that was mostly in the waterfall that gushed to the side of it. 

“I can’t believe all the windows are intact. Oh, except for that one. And that one,” Riley then announced, the closer they rode to it. “That’s new, though. That wasn’t here before.” He then added, pointing out to a smaller, wooden cottage upon the land, not far from the keep. 

Dismounting the horses and leaving them to graze, they approached, finding the door wide open, rats scattering out when they entered. 

“Fuck, it smells bad,” Rin commented, the stench of rat’s nests overpowering. They looked around, finding a surprising amount of furniture still intact and usable, but the home in a bad state of disrepair. “Well, it’s surprising the stench carries so well up here, what with such adequate ventilation.” She then added once they were on the top floor, pointing at the hole in the roof. 

“I can fix that,” Geralt told her, Riley snorting.

“What the hell do you know about roofing? He exclaimed, looking around more.

“Nothing, but I can learn,” he replied.

“Or we can just head to the nearest village, fetch all the supplies we’ll likely need and find a tradesman who can do it properly. Just live downstairs for now, I’ll take the cottage, give you two your space,” he suggested with a shrug.

“It would mean I wouldn’t have to worry that you’re about to fall through the hole in the roof and leave me a single mother,” Rin then stated, stroking his chest as she walked past and surveyed the bed. It couldn’t really be constituted as such, covered in bird faeces and soaking from where rain had poured in through the roof hole. 

It really wasn’t in good shape, but it was shelter, at least. After digging around, Rin found a broom and began to sweep, Geralt and Riley taking the broken furniture outside, where she lit it with a fire ball. Between them, they managed to get it clear and the floors washed with boiling water and some soap that Riley gladly found to deal with the rat smell by nightfall. 

“I’m going to go and wash in the waterfall while we wait for that to cook,” he told his companions, pointing to the small boar Geralt had managed to hunt down. Rin had found an outdoor spit, cleaned it until her fingers were sore and got it set up over some more furniture they were having to burn. 

“So, what do you think of the place?” he asked her, Rin turning around to look at the house.

“I think it’ll be lovely when it’s clean all the way through, furnished too. That can wait though. All we need is a bed more urgently than anything else. I’m an unfussy woman. I’m content with a place I can rest my head and fuck my man before I’ll desire anything else.” Her words made him laugh, putting his arm around her neck and pulling her close, kissing her cheek. 

That night, they slept in semi comfort on the clean lounge floor, curled up to one another. The discomfort that they felt come the morning drove Geralt to head with Riley to the nearest village and make some purchases though, so they had a bed and meagre furnishings, at least. 

Unfortunately, a new bed had to be made for them, meaning further uncomfortable nights while the carpenter Geralt had tracked down had it made, delivering it on a large cart three weeks after their arrival. 

“Anything else can wait. This is absolutely sublime,” Rin sighed, sinking down onto it, stuffing her face into a pillow and smiling happily. “You chose well with the bedding too.” She then commented as Geralt joined her on the raw, white cotton linen.

“I had nothing to do with that. The carpenter’s wife made everything since that’s what she specialises in. I paid her enough to make some extra blankets which I will go and collect in a few weeks once she’s woven them. You’re looking tired, you should rest for today,” he commented, Rin shaking her head.

“No, I have to help!” she protested, sitting up. 

“You’re six and a half months’ pregnant. You’ll do as you’re told and sit,” he warned her, only half joking.

“Yes, pregnant. Not ill! Riley mentioned something about there being a big last of the season market being held a few miles from the village in a couple of days. I’d like to head there, I need clothes that actually accommodate this,” she replied, pulling up her tunic to reveal her swollen belly. 

The lace up fastening on all of her trousers wasn’t long enough to be tied any longer, Rin conceding that she needed to now switch to dresses until after the birth. Geralt saw the practicality in this, knowing they could likely buy more of what they needed for their home whilst there too. 

They firstly rode to the nearest village, Riley managing to barter a merchant to lend him a cart and horses in exchange for Ed for a couple of days, since they needed ample room to bring back their purchases on. He was lucky in so much that his small cottage home was in good condition, everything within only needing a good clean and tidy. 

“I’m going to leave you two to have some space for a while, go out there hunting again. I’ll return in time for the little person to arrive though as you’ll likely need help then, even if it’s me just watching over her while you both sleep. I don’t imagine new parents get much of that,” he spoke from the cart, driving the horses on a little faster. 

“Don’t mention hunting. I miss it,” Rin lamented, now of course not able to go out there and continue her profession. “If you want to go with him for a while, I shan’t mind.” She then added to Geralt, who looked at her like she’d insulted his ancestors.

“I’m not fucking leaving you alone!” He stated vehemently.

“I’ll be fine. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of anyone from either the Sanctuary or the Order in weeks. We’re off their grid, it worked. All we have to do is remain concealed when we’re anywhere but within the house,” he put to him, reaching to squeeze his arm affectionately. 

“I shan’t leave you regardless of that. What if something happened with the baby, hmm? You’d be alone, miles from help. No, Rin. You’re stuck with me.” She saw the sense behind his words there, she could go into labour early, or fall and hurt herself or the baby, anything could happen. Still though, she was annoyed to have to be out of commission where hunting was concerned and effectively house bound. 

It wasn’t an option that she particularly relished, losing her independence in such a way, but thinking on it as Geralt and Riley talked between themselves, Rin knew it was a compromise she had to make for the sake of her unborn daughter. ‘It isn’t just about you any longer’ she thought to herself, realising that being a mother would change her life completely. 

She couldn’t be alone any longer, for the valid reasons Geralt had stated, because she wasn’t alone. She was holding another life within her and after the anguish and danger she’d faced throughout her pregnancy so far, maybe now was the time to be welcoming of a more sedate pace. 

In the coming weeks, she did try too. She threw herself into making the huntsman’s keep her home, building a crib for her child and furnishing what would eventually be her room (she intended to have her close by in hers and Geralt’s bedroom to begin with) as well as organising the rest of the house. It didn’t come easily, however.

“What are you trying not to laugh at?” she asked Geralt one morning, while turning a vase of flowers in different positions and frowning. 

“Watching you trying to take to domesticity. It’s like witnessing a dog attempting to walk on its hind legs,” he told her. He’d witnessed her fuss over sofa cushions, armchair positions and where to hang a painting already that morning, a frown etched over her forehead. She simply wasn’t used to any of this. He wasn’t either, but was adjusting a little better to the change than the frustrated ember.

“The dog would probably be better at it,” she muttered, finally giving way to laughter as she picked up the vase, strode over to the windowsill and plonked it down. “There! It fucking looks fine there!” she then shouted, shaking her head as she finally laughed through her frustration. “I wasn’t built for this.”

“No, you were built for fire, chaos and slaughter. The rest will come to you, though.” Geralt assured her, joining her at the window. It did, too. Eventually. One afternoon weeks later, after he’d been out to procure them a doe for dinner, he witnessed the lovely sight of her sitting outside their home, stroking her bump while hand feeding the otters who lived in the river nearby.

The little creatures had been very curious of their new neighbours, Rin gaining their trust by leaving them breadcrumbs and fish guts a short way from the door, eventually managing to offer them these treats by hand. 

“Look at you, you’re so lovely. All fur and teeth!” she cooed at the otter who was allowing her to rub his belly, playfully nibbling her finger while the others hopped on and off her lap, hiding in the blanket she was wrapped in for warmth. The winter had come and with it, deep snow throughout the Blue Mountains. 

The house looked lovely, all repaired and furnished, currently glittering with snow. To Geralt though, it was Rin sitting outside of it, looking more beautiful than ever as she shone with her pregnant glow, which truly made it home. 

Walking over to her slowly, he smiled when she finally looked up and noticed him, her face so beautiful and alight, her peach hair such a contrast against the brilliance of the snow. She was utterly luminous to him. She was his ember, the mother of his child, his lady, his all. Watching her there looking so lovely, it hit him exactly how much she meant to him. 

“I love you, Catherine,” he told her as he approached, the otters scampering off. Catherine. It was the first time anyone had ever called her that, or at least the first time she could remember.

“What prompted this? I love you too, by the way. I’m not just stating that because you did either! I really do,” she told him as she stood, Geralt wrapping her in his arms. It was a feeling unlike anything she had ever experienced, being told she was loved and in turn, revealing the same to another. Geralt truly was her first love, though.

“This,” he began, taking her hand and resting it to his chest above his heart. “This prompted it.” No further words followed, just kisses as the air began to fill with snow all around. They truly didn’t need to embellish, for that wasn’t true to the people they were. 

Their love, although profound, was quiet and undramatic. It was a whisper of breeze rather than a tornado, or the gentle kiss of a snowflake opposed to an ice storm, much like those which landed of them as they stood in each other’s arms, basking in one another and the quiet all around.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know! I am such a lousy author, not keeping this updated! Here, another two chapters in apology. My life is hectic at the moment!

“Child, cease this abuse,” Geralt grumbled, turning over and resting his hand to Rin’s by now very swollen belly. “Your poor mother has likely been awake for most of the night because of you, kicking away in there like a cantankerous pony.” He then added. It was the early hours of the morning and the kicking feet of their baby against his back had just woken him. It wasn’t an irregular occurrence.

“Yes, she woke me just before the sunrise. This after spending most of the hours previously getting up and down to go to the latrine. She enjoys sitting right on my fucking bladder.” Rin sighed, yawning and wishing her baby would allow her to get more than three hours of sleep.

Stroking her stomach, he hoped that his hand would pacify the very active baby beneath, as sometimes such a thing did work to soothe her. That morning proved a success, the baby eventually going to sleep, her exhausted mother soon to follow.

Not being able to drop off again and only having a short time until he had to be up anyway, Geralt left the bed, washing and dressing before lighting the fire. The house was quite a large space and very, very cold at present. Cold enough for even Rin to feel.

In order to be a little self-sufficient, they had purchased goats and some chickens, so at least milk and eggs were available. The hens were laying less, but still enough to sustain three people. The third person was just coming out of the stable they’d built to house the goats when Geralt arrived.

“Morning!” Riley chirped, handing a bucket of milk over, letting himself out of the stable and grabbing a few slices from the hay bale outside, throwing it in for the grateful goats. “Horses are all sorted. Sadly the chickens didn’t lay though.”

“We have plenty of bread and oats, we’re fine without eggs. Although Rin did mention wanting to try and bake a cake again,” he replied with a dubious expression, Riley snorting with laughter.

“She should stick to bread. She’s actually good at that. Besides, you only just aired the smell of both burned and uncooked cake out of the house,” he replied, remembering the disaster that had befallen his friend at trying her hand at cake baking. “How is she this morning?”

“Asleep again, thankfully. The baby still insists on keeping her up for most of the night,” he replied, Riley raising his eyebrows as they entered the house, which was now thankfully much warmer.

“I remember back when you two didn’t sleep because you were too busy fucking each other’s brains out,” he remarked, Geralt suddenly grinning.

“Oh, that still happens. Trust me.” Remembering back to the night before last when Rin had spent an hour riding him into the bed, he felt his cock twitch at the memory. Of course, they didn’t have sex daily any longer on account of the fact she was often tired, uncomfortable, or both, but when they did, it was still utterly magmatic. Take that afternoon, for example.

“Well, you’re certainly making your intentions clear,” Geralt commented, Rin standing behind him slightly side on (on account of her bump) with her arms around him, hands creeping into his trousers.

“What, that I intend to take you upstairs and have you bend me over something?” she purred huskily, gently biting his shoulder through the fabric of his dark grey shirt. Just those words made his loins pulse.

“What else?” He asked, his heartbeat quickening when she grasped his manhood, giving it a squeeze, her other hand moving to unbutton his shirt, slipping inside to stroke his chest.

“I need to get my mouth around his humongous, amazing, hot cock for a while, feel it getting harder against my tongue while I rub my clit until I’m streaming wet for you, all ready to be spread open and fucked hard.”

At hearing those words, compounded by the added stimulus of her nails grazing his nipple and her mouth meeting the side of his neck, Geralt dropped the bridle he was cleaning into the soapy water and turned to pick her up instead, carrying her out of the kitchen and up to bed.

“No. I meant it. I want what you have getting nice and hard right here. Don’t think just because I’m currently all full of baby that I can’t still dominate you,” she spoke, pushing him back up off the bed.

“It’s because you’re all full of baby that I allow you to,” he replied with a wink, not being able to help himself but tease her ego a little.

“Just you wait until she’s born and I’m all healed. Riley will be doing a lot of babysitting while I remind you of my powerful prowess,” she told him, ripping his trousers down hungrily.

“My darling, with you, it isn’t possible to forget.” He replied, his chest quivering thereafter as he groaned, her mouth swallowing him whole. His darling. That was the first time he’d ever called her such, Rin noticed as she tightened her lips around the base and dragged them up to the head of his cock. It was the first time anyone had, she also realised. What’s more, she liked it.

Looking up at him, her irises flickering their flames, she licked at the tip of his hardness, moaning softly, holding his gaze while he trailed his fingers through her hair, all wavy from sleeping with her braids in. “You are so utterly beautiful.” He told her, Rin smiling before she filled her mouth with him again.

She’d not once felt insecure about her altered body, her bigger belly, fatter bum or anywhere else she’d put on pregnancy weight. Geralt constantly made her feel sexy, stroking her curves, murmuring how much he desired her and being keen to show her in physical measures whenever she wanted him to.

He groaned without reserve as her mouth moved in a delicious slide up and down his shaft, holding eye contact with him firmly while she did, gathering up her dress. She pushed her hand between her legs and began what she’d described, circling her clit as her head bobbed back and forth, her moans sending exquisite tingles through his cock.

Peeling off his shirt, he then reached to pull her dress over her head, fingertips circling her darkened nipples as his heartbeat escalated, chest rising and falling rapidly. The pleasure gathering in the pit of his groin started to pulse strongly, Rin moving her mouth faster as she sensed the climatic state he was reaching.

With a series of gruff groans, he spilled into her throat, his beauty swallowing each drop happily as he twitched within her mouth, hands still stroking her hair as he caught his breath. “I think after that, I truly should return such a favour.”

“You’d better. I’m burning for your mouth.” Standing up, she fed him her fingers, letting him taste her before climbing onto the bed on all fours, spreading her legs wide as she arranged the pillows beneath her and got comfortable.

A content murmur left her mouth when she felt his lips kiss the back of her thigh, his tongue then slowly running up to her bum, biting the round of the cheek and growling playfully, making her squeak and giggle. She’d never been a giggler before she was pregnant, but even the slightest thing could set her off of late.

Following her giggles, she let out a series of moans, each deeper than the last as his mouth reacquainted itself with her slit. He pleasured her with long, firm licks, circles at her opening and her clit, his lips sucking hers as his hands kneaded her bum cheeks, pulling her open wider to the inquisition of his tongue.

He licked her slowly but so keenly, tasting her, delighting her, his hands running over the new curves pregnancy had given her, those rises and falls so sexy to him, just as she was. Her dew bathed his tongue, pushing inside her, feeling her throb around it.

She even tasted different pregnant, earthier, stronger, but still so delectably palatable to him and his eager mouth, her musk flooding his senses, her moans filling the room as once again, his tongue traced circles at her clit.

Her pulse quickened, matching his as his own arousal grew steadily, his cock hardening rapidly. Although he was enjoying bestowing such ecstasy upon her with his mouth, his desire to sink himself into her superseded it, sitting up behind her and with one push, filling her entirely.

Her heat enveloped him with a strong squeeze, his hands smoothing up her back and into her silky, peach hair as she groaned lustfully. He learned forward, kissing her neck, Rin turning her head to grant his lips a heated expression, her hand tangling in his hair as she felt herself stretch around every single delicious inch of his hardness.

Things were just starting to become furtherly intense when the sound of raised voices from downstairs became audible, Riley sounding angry as a woman pleaded with him not to harm her. Geralt grunted in annoyance as he slipped back out of her, Rin pulling on her dress as he got back into his trousers and shirt.

“Oh, you think I’m being hostile? Try both of them for fucking size, lady!” Riley snarled, holding the tip of his sword to the throat of a woman who stood just outside of the doorway to their home with him. Rin recognised her immediately. She was the woman in the red cloak whom she’d denounced as insane, a member of the Sanctuary of the Blessed.

The first thing she noticed though was that the red cloak was gone. The second was the awful stench of whatever she carried within the large, hessian sack she held.

“Please, please hear me out. I do not come here with any intent to harm and within this putrid sack, I can show you the evidence of that too. I am here to help you, so much more too. I confess though, I do not know where to begin,” she stated, Geralt storming to face her after grabbing a dagger from the table.

“The only start that’ll be done here is the slit I intend on putting in your fucking throat. You will not live to go and reveal our whereabouts to the rest of your sect. You were foolish to come here alone and think you could walk away from three people as formidable as us. You mean us harm and we shall not allow that,” he told her, anger pulsing through him as Riley lowered his sword, Geralt holding the dagger to her throat.

“There is no more of my sect. Not the southern group who you were relentlessly pursued by. I couldn’t bring all of them with me, but I could at least show you my intentions by taking some souvenirs as proof.” Upending the sack, she then spilled the foul-smelling contents onto the ground, Geralt looking down as Rin came to his side.

There, staining the snow sanguine, lay the heads of all of the senior members of the Sanctuary who had used blood magic to resurge, such obviously no longer applicable to them since the woman with the long, dark blonde hair in front of them had made such impossible.

Included there was the man who had shapeshifted into Geralt, the dark-skinned mage of considerable power who kept on coming back to attack them. Seeing them all there, he lowered his dagger, but remained braced, not trusting her at all.

“So, what is it that we have to hear you out over? This could be a trick, you could have their bodies stashed away somewhere, ready to resurrect them again through your blood magic,” Rin then said, stepping forward a little. Feeling Geralt grip her arm made her heart flutter, his concern for her welfare as strong as ever.

“Look at their state of decompose. Such wouldn’t be possible now, Catherine.” Immediately, Rin cocked her head, confusion and surprise flooding her. Only one person left alive knew her name was Catherine, and he was standing beside her. “This is what I need you to hear me out over. You feel surprise that I know your real name and are likely wondering why. It’s because I am the one who gave it to you. I’m your mother, Catherine.”

Riley was the one to act quickly, catching Rin when her leg’s gave way and she toppled back against him, fainting in shock.


	29. Chapter 29

“Her mother died in a storm at sea, her boat was completely wrecked and her body never found. Woman, you are a liar and moments from meeting your demise,” Geralt snarled, brandishing the dagger again and pressing it against her pale throat.

“I know my claim sounds unbelievable, but how did I know her name if I am not her mother? She goes by Rin and has since I lost her, so I’ve discovered. Look at my eyes too. I know I do not look like her facially, there she is all her father, but our eyes are identical.” Studying her irises, he had to concede that she was right. Shape and colour, they were Rin’s eyes looking back at him. 

Gerlat was too preoccupied looking between her and the sofa, where Riley had carried a still out cold Rin to rest to really pay her much more attention, feeling conflicted. “Please, Geralt. Please let me in to speak further.” 

“How the fuck did you even find us?” he asked, needing to know exactly how their safety had been compromised.

“A locating spell, my blood finding the location of any others of that blood. Rin is the only person in my family left alive apart from a sister I am estranged from in Cintra, so it brought me straight to the correct location via a portal,” she explained. “Everything else I can explain also.” 

“Let her in, Geralt. She’s telling the truth,” Rin said, sitting up and rubbing her face, Riley stating he’d fetch her some water and heading to the kitchen. “Omnir Kalflax was the only person other than you who knew my real name, and he never used it either. Ever since he took me from here to Rholkrhaden Island, I’ve always been Rin. No one knew any differently.”

“Thank you for allowing me into your home, Catherine. I do appreciate you giving me the chance to explain,” the woman stated as Rin got up and walked over to her. She hadn’t expected her to be welcoming to the idea at all. What she also hadn’t expected was for Rin’s fist to then meet her face at speed, punching her so hard, she fell over. 

“Yes, your explanation over how you didn’t perish in that storm and instead, left me an orphan who was forced to go through the kind of trials that would make a grown man howl in pain will be a very fucking interesting one to hear!” she roared at her, rage pulsing through her, her daughter’s anger also flaring up. Rin almost didn’t send calming thoughts to her; she was so livid. 

“Catherine, I’m sorry, I can explain…” she began, sitting up on the floor.

“Don’t you call me Catherine. One person calls me that and it isn’t you!” she then raged, turning away from her and seeking the solace that was Geralt, holding his arms as he reached to stroke her shoulders, resting her forehead to his chest as she took deep breaths, loathed if she would cry in front of the woman. 

“I know you’re capable, but the moment you want her gone, just say the word and I’ll literally throw her out of here,” he stated firmly but quietly, stroking her belly. “How is she?”

“She’s angry. It’s the first time in months she’s been would up by something. I’d almost forgotten how difficult it is to fight against her. Don’t worry, I can handle this myself. I love you,” she stated, her hand covering his as she looked up and kissed him. 

“I love you too.” He told her, Rin then turning back to her mother, who had just returned to standing. 

“So, this explanation.” She gestured to the lounge, her and Geralt taking the sofa, their so far still unwelcome guest sitting in an armchair opposite, Riley telling them he’d make himself scarce. 

“Let me begin by introducing myself properly. I am Helene, also once known as Helene of Beauclair, before I gave up my sorceress title to become a member of the Sancturary of the Blessed. Beauclair is where I am originally from, but later I settled in Nazair, after I had met my husband.

“Your father was a sword for hire, much as I a mage for the same purpose. We aligned ourselves with those who paid the highest for our services. His name was Arthremel and my stars, Rin, you are his double, as beautiful as he was handsome. 

“It was as those roles that we were sailing out to Skellige when we were caught in a storm, the boat we were in capsizing. I survived, but much to the anguish of my broken heart, your father perished, his body lost to the sea. I was washed up upon the shores of Trelken Island, which you might or might not know is the place where the Sancturary of the Blessed were first formed. 

“It was they who took me in and helped me recuperate. Of course, I didn’t make it easy for them. I have always been so headstrong and I was determined to leave even before I was truly well enough in order to get back to you. They were not so keen to let me go, though. 

“I did not realise it as the time, awash with grief for losing my darling Arthremel, missing my little one and yearning to get back to you, but they manipulated me for their own gain. The Sanctuary had very, very few mages back then, even fewer of significant power, like myself. 

“In order to procure me for their organisation, you needed to be out of the way. By luck for them, this happened when the plague was sweeping through the Continent, which after one of their members left for the mainland, came back and told me you had succumb to. You must believe me, Rin. I have known for just mere months that you have been alive this entire time. 

“Of course, they inserted themselves into my life, manipulated me using the techniques any fanatical group successful in gaining followers is adroit in. Without you and your father, I had no one other than an estranged half-sister, a bastard of my father, who left my mother when I was a small child. 

“I was prime for their brainwashing. I was someone with no one, who desperately needed to feel like a part of something. So, I became a part of them and their group. I’d never had an issue with witchers, I’ve known a few whose names would likely be familiar to you, Geralt, your predecessors, some here still, some gone. Through their cajoling though, I became as narrow minded as they, fully on board in the attempt to wipe out your kind, embers too. 

“The first I knew of you though, it was when another mage within our group had taken on a scrying exercise and seen what likely befall us, should your child be born. He’s the black man whose head is currently outside your doorstep, his name was Consteen and gods, he was an evil bastard of great, formidable power. He frightened the life out of me, truth be known. His power eclipsed mine in shades. 

“What he saw, he never tried to summon again to show us, we were just to take his word. It is my personal belief that he likely did not see a fate for us all as a result of your child, but the fate of the Sanctuary. The fear he couldn’t quite hide from me gave him away. 

“I was assigned to track your location, told I needed to find an ember travelling with two witchers and take your life to prevent the birth of the child they called the dark sign. Of course, as soon as I saw you, I knew who you were. There you were, the double of Arthremel and gods, how I wanted to run to you, to throw my arms around you. 

“In twenty years I had never, ever stopped mourning you and to know you were alive, it broke something within me. It goes without saying that I couldn’t kill you, but I could warn you. I could try to stop it from happening, from you conceiving the child that would have a target upon them indefinitely, so that is what I did. 

“When I returned to the Sanctuary, I told them I was yet to find you and then feigned illness so I did not have to go back out there again to continue my attempts, although I knew I had failed in keeping you both apart and had to realise that just because I wouldn’t kill you, it didn’t mean others couldn’t. 

“This is when I knew I had to do something, anything to get the southern fraction of the Sanctuary off your backs. You doing as well as you did in cutting them down, it bided me some time, just as when you dropped off the grid entirely and no one could find you. It gave me the chance to formulate what I needed to both finish them off and escape. 

“Because of the proficiency of mages such as Consteen, any usual poison I might use would be detected, they’d feel it and be able to counter it through magical means. I had to brew something that killed on contact and wait for a chance to be able to achieve this en masse. 

“Just under two weeks ago, and with my potion long since brewed, we held a gathering for the entire southern fraction of the Sanctuary, over four hundred members, a huge banquet to celebrate our gains of the previous year and discuss tactics and targets for this coming one. It was perfect. 

“Everything went without a hitch, the wine tainted before it was even poured into the goblets. As we toasted, I was the only one who didn’t fall dead in an instant, my mouth coated in the antidote to my powerful elixir. I took the heads of those I knew you would recognise for proof, packed my things and left.

“This brings me up to doing my locating spell, which of course does take a few days to work, the further away the person you are looking for is. With my sack full of rotting heads though, I finally had your location revealed this morning. 

“This leads me up until now. Please, allow me to go and dispose of the rotten heads and leave you your peace to think this over. Just know I never have and never will mean you harm, Rin. Nor you, not Geralt and not your baby either.”

Taking a deep breath as Helene left, Rin took Geralt’s hand, breathing out eventually as she rested her head to his thigh, feeling his hand begin to stroke the back of her neck soothingly.

“This is going to take a lot of processing, everything she just told me. I believe her, or at least I think I do. I’m unsure if I can trust myself. What do you think?” She asked. If there was one person she trusted implicitly, it was him. 

“I think the fact that she brought with her the heads of those who seek to harm us is irrefutable proof of her turning on the Sanctuary, but that doesn’t mean we should still allow her to be around us. That, my love, is something only you can decide. She’s your mother, after all,” he told her, Rin nodding. 

“I’m going to take a walk, be alone with my thoughts for a while. I shan’t go far.” He understood her desire, after all, what she’d just been told would take time to sink in. Geralt loved her enough to give her as much of that as she needed. 


	30. Chapter 30

Pulling her wolf pelt coat, a beautiful gift from Geralt, around her pregnant swell as much as she could, Rin trudged through the snow, her head an absolute maelstrom.

Her mother was alive. Her mother was alive. Those words kept ringing through her head like a bell in the night, louder and louder, although the message was yet to completely sink in. She totally believed her too, there was way too much that added up to doubt her, knowing her name, her arrival with the severed heads, it was irrefutable. It was how to act next that bamboozled Rin the most.

Part of her wanted to run to her, to feel her mother hug her for the first time (that she’d remember, at least) but at the same time, a larger part of her had no desire to. It wasn’t Helene’s fault they’d been separated, but for Rin it was a case of not missing something she’d never known.

She’d never pined for parents, for she didn’t know what it was like to have them and now one had returned to her, she felt mostly indifferent. The desire to be held by her existed though, although in a lesser equal part, just to know what it was like.

When she was due to give birth to her first child in little under two months from then, it really was the last thing she needed to deal with. Although she had no answers to the situation, the cold was beginning to get to her, this influencing her decision to turn back and head home.

Helene smiled as she walked past her, Rin’s mouth twitching slightly as she opened the front door and let herself in, taking off her boots and coat, happily sinking into Geralt’s embrace a moment later.

“You were gone a significantly shorter time than I’d anticipated,” he commented, stroking her back.

“I was, but this doesn’t mean I am close to figuring out any kind of conclusion over how to proceed with this news,” she sighed.

“I wouldn’t expect you to either. Do you want me to go and send her away?” He asked, Rin shaking her head slightly.

“I don’t know. There’s a part of me that wants to welcome her, but another that really has no desire to. This is what I was mentally wrestling with as I walked, but then upon my return to the house I tried to consider things from her point of view.

“Here I am, the daughter she long believed dead, the child she’s missed and mourned for the last twenty-one years. Can I be so cruel to cut her out now that she’s found me?” she questioned, walking over to the armchair.

She gestured that he should sit, Geralt doing so before pulling her down onto his lap, the fire before them crackling loudly. “It’s completely up to you. I know hearing such probably isn’t very useful to you at the moment, when you’re so torn over which path to take, as it were, but it’s true. You shouldn’t feel guilt for not wanting her around you, no matter how much permanence that particular decision comes with. That is, if this is what you choose.”

“The only new arrival I was expecting was this one,” she replied, stoking her stomach and laughing through her nose softly, her face softening before it became creased once more. “Can you ask her to leave? I can’t face her for the moment.”

“Of course.” Kissing her forehead, he helped her stand before he got up, Rin taking the armchair and staring at the flames while Geralt went to deal with Helene.

“Rin wishes for you to leave, as do I,” he told her after leaving the house, Helene nodding.

“I expected as much. It’s good that you trust what I’ve told you is true though, for if you didn’t I highly doubt you’d be letting me leave at all. Honestly, it was contenting enough for now just to see her well and settled, safe too, most pertinently. I don’t want to rush her into anything, nor do I expect her to make a quick decision either. I sense she isn’t the type to warm to people quickly. Her father was exactly the same,” she replied.

Her words gave Geralt pause for thought, for they showed Helene to be a very selfless woman, completely accepting her estranged daughter’s decision to send her away. The fact that she made no demands struck a chord with him. As much as he believed she was telling the truth though, he made a note to make sure of that, though.

“No, she isn’t. Rin is a person of much warmth, but only with people whom she’s known for a time. Otherwise, she is frosty and aloof. There’s a village five miles north of here, where you shall find an inn. I suggest you leave quickly; it looks like we’re in for another covering of snow,” he commented, sensing the weather was likely to turn since the temperature had markedly dropped that afternoon.

“Then the inn is where I shall be found. I shan’t come back here again unless I am invited to do so. Tell Rin I will wait however long it takes. Goodbye for now, Geralt.” She smiled, touching a hand to his arm before turning and leaving, Geralt waiting until she was out of sight across the horizon before heading to Riley’s cottage to fill him in.

“Let me guess, you want me to don my concealment pendant and follow her?” he asked, pulling his boots on.

“Exactly that. We do believe she’s telling the truth, but I cannot quite discount that maybe, somehow, she might still be in league with those who remain. It is a smaller worry, but still, a present one,” he confided, Riley nodding.

“If I even get a whiff of deceit, I’ll put a blade through her.” He assured him, collecting a few necessities before leaving. Geralt headed back to the house, sure that the situation was in hand but not informing Rin of where their friend had headed.

He never lied to her, but he didn’t want to add to her worry but sharing the sliver of suspicion he’d held. It wouldn’t be of help to her already unsettled mind. When she was this heavily pregnant, he didn’t want her to be under any further duress.

The white lie he used to explain Riley’s absence from their dinner table later that evening was that he’d gotten itchy feet and gone to try his luck sniffing out monsters, feeling guilty when Rin accepted his word unquestionably. It was only a few more hours before he caved. He was much too honest for his own good.

“Riley hasn’t gone hunting. I’ve tasked him to follow your mother under concealment. I just want to doubly make sure she’s telling the truth. Her story is a convincing one, but I cannot help but let a tiny bit of doubt creep in. I cannot fully discount she might be working with whoever of the Sanctuary are left up here in the north,” he told her as they lay at opposite ends of the bathtub, rubbing her tired feet for her.

“I appreciate you told me the truth, eventually,” she began, nudging his chest with her toes. “I know why you kept it from me too, you’re concerned for my welfare. Remember who it is I am, Geralt. I know you want to protect me and our unborn child, but even with the vulnerabilities of pregnancy I’m still stronger and more formidable than most. I can handle the idea that my mother might be acting duplicitously. If she is, I shall burn her to bones and get on with life. It’s very simple.”

He knew she was right, even on her worst day, Rin would be a force to be reckoned with more so than someone on their best and this he did try to remember. Days passed since Helene and Riley’s subsequent departure, Geralt hoping that the old adage of no news is good news could be applied to his absence. Unless, of course, he was spying on her as she went about meeting with the Sanctuary.

“You have to fucking stop.” He told himself, swinging the axe he held onto another log and shaking his head, preventing his thoughts from spiralling further. He knew he’d drive himself mad unless he exacted a little level headed patience, so did just that, finishing wood cutting and going over to the stables, where Rin was grooming the horses.

“She’s very curious, isn’t she?” he asked, witnessing the lovely sight that was his mare sniffing Rin’s swollen belly, ears pricked in attention.

“I think she senses it, knows there’s a little person in here. Both she and Blanche are fascinated by my tummy,” she replied, kissing Roach’s velvety soft muzzle when she nudged her cheek.

“They’re nothing if not extremely inquisitive creatures.” He replied, Roach coming over to give him a friendly shove while Rin worked the brush over her hind quarters. He had to be more like his love, he realised, whose calmness had quite surprised him in the wake of revealing his suspicions over Helene.

It might not be as bad as he was working himself up to believe. She could very well be telling the truth, but it was the not knowing which ate away at him. One thing that did take his mind off it all though was later that evening, lying in bed next to a freshly napped Rin (who often slept at intervals throughout the day) feeling his daughter kicking against his hand.

“I suppose we should begin discussing a name for this little one, since neither of us has made a suggestion thus far,” he commented, Rin sitting up a little more with a slight huff. It wasn’t easy to get comfortable at her stage in pregnancy.

“Do you have any suggestions?” she asked, Geralt looking thoughtful before pulling a face that was, for him, quite comically expressive.

“Absolutely none. I have been thinking here and there too. I think it would be nice if we named her something which has meaning,” he told her, moving one of the many cushions decorating the bed to behind her when she still struggled to get comfortable.

“Yes, that would be lovely but I can’t think of anything with any kind of relevance either!” she exclaimed, opening her arms and having him turn to cuddle up to her, resting his head on her shoulder while she stroked and kissed his hair.

They lay together in silent contemplation for a while, both thinking hard for something that would be fitting, sighing, giving up and then starting again, all until Rin suddenly spoke.

“Seren. In that inn where we first had sex, where she was more than likely conceived, there was a vase of Seren flowers on the table. They are a beautiful bloom too, star shaped and exquisitely pretty, just as she will be.” Looking up at her, Geralt smile and nodded, kissing the side of her neck with much affection while his hand stroked her stomach.

“And with that, you have a name, little girl.” He told her, smiling and wrapping her beautiful mother in his arms again, the moment very content.


	31. Chapter 31

“I know it is you, witcher. Riley, isn’t it?” Helene spoke, turning back to the man she knew had been following her quietly through the forest. How on earth did she…

“Those concealment charms are wonderful and would fool almost anyone, but you see, while I waited outside of Rin and Geralt’s home, I went to say hello to the horses. While the charm conceals what your lovely piebald looks like, it doesn’t conceal his scent. It’s okay. I don’t mind that you followed me. I have absolutely nothing to hide,” she added after riding back to him on her sure-footed little mule.

“Well, one could say that perhaps you might be, since you have travelled way past the village you stated you could be found at,” he challenged her with, Helene nodding.

“I shall be there eventually, but first I wish to consult with an old mage friend of mine. There is a small village about two miles from here, she lives a further eight from there. Shall I treat you to breakfast and we can discuss my plans?” she offered, Riley’s stomach growling right on cue.

“I’ll take you up on that. However, you can reveal those plans while we ride.” Helene, being a very amiable woman thought such was fair, knowing that she would likely have to work her arse off and then some in order to gain the trust of her daughter and the witchers, realising that right there is where she could begin.

“Okay, this is fair, I feel,” she began, turning her mule into step beside Ed. “Have you ever heard of Millicent of the North?”

“Of course I fucking have, woman. I grew up in these parts, she’s one of the most famous mages within the northern lands,” he snorted in reply.

“I know you still view me with suspicion, but there is no reason to be rude,” she replied boldly, eyeing him in a way that made very clear that although she realised she was the one who had to work hard, she expected the same basic manners as anyone else.

“Now, I shall explain. From curse removal to exorcism, there isn’t much that woman does not know about removing afflictions that should not be. I am going to her in the hope that she might know of a way to remove Rin’s unborn child of that incredible power she possesses, so she might live a normal life.

“Of course, I would put it to Rin and Geralt first, I realise that it isn’t my place to insist upon such, but I would very much like to give them that option, should it be a course they decide to choose. The baby, she shan’t have a normal life while possessing the kind of power she does, it will be absolutely torturous for all involved too, to try and teach her how to harness it.

“Then, of course, there’s the fact that the northern fraction of my former sect knows about the baby. They’ll hunt every inch of the north in order to find her. Concealment might be all well and good, but as soon as they get even a whiff of that power unleashed, she’ll draw them in like a beacon.”

Her words at the end there jogged his memory of something Geralt had told him, a theory made by Vesemir about the child’s power meaning she could be tracked once out from within the safety of Rin’s womb. Suddenly, he wasn’t quite so suspicious of Helene.

“You seem to be making big moves in order to make amends with Rin,” he observes, Helene sighing.

“I am. I wish I could have walked away from the Sanctuary as soon as I recognised who she was. It killed me, to witness them chasing her across the land when she least needed such stress. I always have and always will be her mother. Now I know she is alive; I intend to look after her.

“If she allows me to be, it would mean everything to me to be the kind of mother I always planned on too, the kind I was before she was stolen from me.” Her voice quietened, a little tremor afflicting her words. It wasn’t hard to see how much she had agonised over losing her child, nor had she truly ever forgotten about the baby she believed to have been dead.

One thing that shone through to Riley was the power of her love as her mother, something he had never known. His own had died while giving birth to him, his father a victim of an awful plague. He had been a baby in arms when presented to the school of the wolf, left in a basket at the gates of Kaer Morhen.

They continued to talk as they travelled, arriving in the village mid-morning and stopping to eat as planned. There at the inn, Helene spoke more of her life with the Sanctuary, revealing an absolute wealth of knowledge, anything Riley asked of her. It was another clincher for him that the lady before him was being nothing but truthful. She was giving too much away not to be.

“After your wide scale act of murder, did you not ever consider travelling as we did, under concealment?” Riley asked, mopping up the very last of his egg yolk with the crust of his bread, Helene blowing the steam off her tea before answering.

“No one up here knows what I look like, there’s no connection either. With you, Rin and Geralt, your identities were shared to the entire Sanctuary. They know to look for an ember and two witchers, one with white hair and the other with yellow cat eyes. No one knows to look for me since I killed them all before they ever became suspicious of my motives,” she replied, sipping her tea and winking.

“You’re very shrewd, I appreciate that in a person,” he commented, the pretty mage nodding.

“I noticed that isn’t the only thing you appreciate about me. I thank you for supressing those urges though. It’d make things messy if we went off and fucked, you being such a close friend to my daughter. I would though, just so you know.”

Another wink followed, Riley feeling his cock twitch as he shook his head and wiped a hand down over his face, groaning in a comically pained way as he laughed, Helene too. He had to behave; this he knew. Helene being a typical mage and not entering her aged years as yet though, not looking a day over thirty (and likely hadn’t for many, many years) made it tough for him.

He had to note though, it was yet another thing about her which confirmed her sincerity. A lesser woman wouldn’t have cared about the long-term implications about becoming involved with someone close to her daughter, for they wouldn’t be seeing themselves being just that; around long term. Helene didn’t want to scupper anything which might prevent her from getting close to Rin.

They reached Millicent’s very meagre cottage by nightfall, the mage inviting them in for supper and kindly allowing them to stay the night while Helene put to her the dilemma she was facing.

“There is such a thing, to remove power of another. On an infant though, such could be risky. I’ve only ever come across it upon mages who have let themselves be corrupted by darkness,” Millicent spoke, pouring out three cups of steaming hot tea, her golden bracelets tinkling as she did. “If I have anything, it is likely to be somewhere within one the volumes behind you, which you are free to copy onto some parchment, of course.”

Turning around to view the bookcase, Helene felt a quiet dread creep over her at just how long such a task would take. Somewhere within one of the volumes behind you was pretty vague. If she couldn’t pinpoint it to a single book, it would likely take a vast amount of time to find such information.

“I’ll assist.” Riley told her, sipping his tea and smiling. They began the following morning, all three reading through the large texts. It took two days before they found anything worth noting down, Millicent also making some extra notes for Helene too before she thanked her and gathered her belongings.

“Oh, before I leave, Millicent. Would you mind?” Taking a small pouch from her pocket, she pulled out a small, blue glass bottle.

“Of course not. I hope to see you again at some point.” She drank it, smiling and waving them goodbye, Riley looking puzzled.

“Memory tonic. Just in case anyone questions her over visitors she might or might not have had at any point and attempts to extract her memories via magic, she shan’t have any of me visiting her recently. If we were to turn back and knock on the door again, she would not remember we’d just stayed with her for four days,” she revealed, Riley thinking how clever her idea was.

“I suppose one cannot be too careful.” Helene agreed with him, learning first hand of this just a few days later on their way home. While Riley built a campfire, she had wandered into the forest to collect some herbs for her stash, humming to herself as she thought about buying jars to store them in and building herself a home of her own in which to put them.

It had been years since she’d had that, a home to call her own instead of living in a commune with other members of her former sect. It was just as she was considering how near or far she should tentatively begin her built from Geralt and Rin’s home that she was disturbed by the thundering of hooves in the distance.

Looking up, she let out a little gasp at seeing the unmistakable red cloaks of the Sanctuary, steeling herself not to react nervously. ‘They don’t know who you are’ she chanted through her head like a mantra, continuing to gather herbs as they approached.

“Young woman, tell me. Upon your travels, have you per chance encountered an ember and two witchers crossing your path?” a large, stout man spoke, Helene’s heart turning with sadness. It was only a matter of time before their search would reach this part of the north.

“I’m afraid not, good sir.” She replied, simply and convincingly. The man nodded before he and the other nine riders moved on, Helene noticing something unmistakable about two of them. Neither wore red cloaks and both had orange hair. Embers.

Somehow, they had banded together despite their revulsion for the other in order to fight that which they considered to be the greater evil; Rin, Geralt and their baby. The duplicity stank. It was as she witnessed them riding away that various emotions all began to swirl within Helene, audacity at their hypocrisy, rage at the fact they still pursued her daughter and unborn grandchild and a deep, sudden wondering why the hell she should allow that to continue, even for a second.

“You are Helene of Beauclair. Show them who it is they should fear.” Whirling her hands around, she compelled and commanded the very air around her, swirling it into her weapon and using it to knock the riders from their horses.

The air swirled into a small tornado, the men trapped within it as Helene made it circulate faster and faster, until their bodies flew out one by one, smacking into trees so hard, they were killed on impact.

“Not my daughter. Never, ever again.” She snarled angrily at the last one she’d left alive before taking the dagger she kept strapped to her thigh beneath her dress and crouching down to slit his throat. Looking up she then saw Riley standing there, the sudden change in weather likely cause to alert him.

“Quite the protective mama bear, aren’t we?” he observed, scanning Helene’s carnage.

“Now you know where Rin gets it from.” He most certainly did.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another double update for you to make up for my lack of daily updates! Life truly has gotten in the way of this pastime, unfortunately.

“Nine moons. She’ll be here any day now, not that I needed the full moon signifying another month passing to realise I’m about to pop,” Rin spoke as she looked out of the window in the lounge, looking up at the gigantic full moon as it shone through the inky blue of the night sky. “I’m still worried, though, that Riley is yet to return and neither of us can go and search for him.”

“He knows what he’s doing, I’m certain he’s absolutely fine.” Geralt told her, coming to the window and wrapping his arms around her. He was glad her back was to him, so she couldn’t see how poor he’d become at forcing his face to match his words whenever the subject of his friends’ absence was broached.

He’d expected him home by now, three weeks was quite long enough, he thought. It did nothing but cause his suspicions over Helene to mount. It also caused him concern over Rin going into labour too, meaning he’d have no choice but to leave her alone while he rode the five miles to the village in order to fetch the healer who would deliver the baby, as arranged.

The thought of having to abandon her when it was likely going to be the worst time to leave her alone scared him, for obvious reasons. Mostly though, he was becoming concerned over his safety. He reasoned with himself that Riley was intelligent and formidable enough to look after himself after who might turn out to be a duplicitous mage, but he’d rather know for certain than be kept waiting.

Another three days passed, Rin hanging out freshly washed bed linen to dry in the warmth of the spring morning when she saw the sight she’d been waiting for, Riley and Ed approaching over the horizon, her mother riding beside them.

“Baldie! Well, aren’t you looking…round. Lovely, still, but very, very round!” he announced as he reached her, climbing down from Ed’s back and giving her a hug.

“Let me take Ed and get him comfortable while I see to the mule, leave you all to catch up,” Helene suggested, acknowledging her daughter with a smile and a nod, noticing Rin’s cool demeanour towards her still. It killed her, not being able to do as she wished and throw her arms around her daughter, but she understood.

“Appreciated, Helene. Here, let me take these for you.” Undoing the saddle bags her mule carried, he gave her a friendly squeeze on the shoulder before heading to the house, bellowing ‘snowdrop!’ when he encountered Geralt, Rin laughing quietly.

She finished hanging out the linen, noting to herself how warm Riley seemed towards her mother and wondering curiously exactly what he’d discovered. It must have been good, or Helene wouldn’t have arrived back at the house. Riley would have put his sword through her, this she had no doubt over.

Inside, this gave her a little glimmer, Rin forced to face the fact that for the first time since Helene had revealed herself as her mother, she truly did want to trust her. Walking back into the house, she set her linen basket down before awkwardly sitting in the armchair opposite Geralt and Riley, breathing a sigh of relief as she propped herself against the cushions. Her back ached constantly in these final stages of pregnancy.

“So, your mother,” Riley began, holding his hands wide and expressively before dropping them into his lap. “She is as she says she is. The only thing she was not truthful about was her claim she would head to the village and take lodgings at the inn, for she didn’t.

“She recognised the scent of Ed after I’d been following her for a few days heading north, informing me of her plan to visit a mage friend of hers. For what purpose is hers to reveal, but trust me, it was nothing nefarious.

“On our way home, I should mention that she ran into some members of the northern fraction of the Sanctuary. Well, no. That’s isn’t correct. They ran into her. She slaughtered them one by one, using her magic to conjure a small tornado she whirled them up into, smashing their bodies into trees, apart from the last man whose throat she slit after telling him, and I quote, ‘not my daughter. Never, ever again.’ She is all she says she is and intents all she claims to, Rin.”

As she absorbed his words, the strangest feeling began to creep over Rin, a warmth unlike anything she’d felt before at knowing that for the first time, she’d had someone other than herself or Geralt to protect her. Her mother had protected her, been so adamant, in fact, that no one would harm her that she’d taken out an entire group of men on her own.

For this, Rin realised that Helene was deserving of something, at least. Getting up, she walked as fast as her current state would allow, out of the house and up to the little row of stables where the animals were kept. Helene was just leaving Ed’s stable when her daughter reached her, opening her arms and pulling her into a hug.

“Gods above, how I yearned for this,” Helene sighed shakily, stroking Rin’s hair and breathing in her scent, holding her baby tight at last, in the arms that had ached for her since she’d lost her twenty-one years ago. “What prompted this?”

“Riley told me what you did. You protected me, Helene. You were something I’ve never experienced, a parent looking after me. I can’t ignore that; I might be a hardened person but I’m not so that I cannot see genuineness. In you, I see this,” she revealed, her mother holding her a little tighter as she laughed softly with joy.

“This you will need to get used to if I am to remain in your life, of course this is up to you. I was discussing with Riley about building myself a house nearby, should you wish for me to stay close. This whole protective parent role, I fully intend to indulge it, should you allow me to,” she explained, Rin smiling as she nodded.

“Yes, I think I would like that. We can get to know each other slowly, move at a pace that is comfortable for us both,” she suggested, Helene looking agreeable.

“I can help with the baby too, for let me tell you right now, you shall be exhausted! It is the hardest work, raising a child. I will be here, though,” she assured her.

“I’d like that, for you to be here. When I mean here, I do mean here, in our home. Stay until your home is built, it will be perfect to allow for us to get to know one another. Shall we begin this now? You can reveal to me why you visited your mage friend, as Riley told us it was for you to say, not him,” she put to her, Helene turning in the direction of the house as they began to slowly walk back.

“I shall, with Geralt present too. It is something I want to go through with you both.” Once back within the house, she explained it all to them, her plan to see if there was any kind of way she could remove the baby of her powers in order for her to have a normal life where she didn’t have a band of fanatics hunting her down.

“I must say, immediately the concerns I share match those of Millicent. I know little of witchcraft, but surely it must be an arduous process, to put someone through the removal of power? It’s an intrinsic ability she has, it’d be like dragging a vital organ from someone, would it not?” Geralt questioned, Helene making a semi-agreeable face.

“I’ve never seen it done, but I would assume so. This is why I must attempt to find a way to take them without harming the baby. In that bag Riley carried in for me are endless pieces of parchment we made notes upon after reading through Millicent’s books for four days straight.

“I must research this further. There are other mages I can visit, of course, but I have enough I need to thoroughly absorb there in the bag for now. Besides, getting to know Rin and helping you both prepare wherever you might need me to for the arrival of this special child are where my priorities lie at this current time,” she replied, smiling warmly.

“Then allow me to facilitate this. You, come with me. I have paddock fencing to assemble.” Geralt spoke, to Helene first and then Riley, kissing Rin on his way out. He decided letting them reacquaint would be best done just the two of them. Besides, the horses needed proper paddocks. Blanche had become somewhat of an escape artist from her tether in recent weeks.

Rin made tea, also serving her first successful attempt at making a cake to her mother, sitting back down again and trying to get comfortable.

“I remember that well with you. In the week before you were born, your father had to go and purchase an abundance of pillows, for I could not get comfortable at all. Here, let’s switch places. Come on, I’ll help you up,” Helene said, rising from the armchair and holding out her hands, assisting in pulling Rin up off the sofa.

“Oh, it’s bloody murder. My feet and my back have never been so sore. Everywhere else is fine, I’ve seen women struggling at even bigger sizes than I’ve reached too and I have only a few stretch marks, luckily, but the back ache is horrible. Geralt donates me his pillows and then sleeps with his head on my thigh,” she revealed, Helene making a face to indicate she thought such was lovely.

“He seems very devoted to you, your witcher. I think I understand why you were reluctant to heed my warning and stay away from him. The energy between you both is extremely strong, very palpable. Your love reminds me of your father and I,” she replied, smiling wistfully as she remembered Arthremel.

“Tell me about him, about how you met,” Rin requested, leaning forward as Helene fluffed the cushions behind her, handing over her tea so she didn’t have to reach for it before settling into a seat.

“We met in Zerrikania, right on the edge of the Korath Desert. I was travelling through with the lands with the lord unto whom I was bound as his house mage, working off a debt. However, he was not a man of honesty or honour, so therefore he kept extending the time I was to stay with him and of course, being a high born, high standing man, I couldn’t kill him and escape, it would have raised too much suspicion and also sullied my name.

“This was all until I met your father. He was the most exquisite man I’d ever seen; tall, well built, eyes as green as the summer grass and such beautiful, long hair. It was dark and curly, to his waist. He wore it in a long plait, one which eventually I would fix for him every morning. I loved his hair.

“Before that though, before we became all we were, we met at fete, of all places. We were both travelling through, him touting for work and me with Lord and Lady Ekilion, the latter wanting to buy from the fete stalls for their children, whom they’d left at home.

“He spotted me being shown off like some circus side act by the lord, who always enjoyed the attention anyone associated with him could bring, while I cast spells to make conjured butterflies dance. I used to do it for you too, when you’d cry and cry as a tiny babe.” Pausing from her tale, Helene manifested three pale peach butterflies that matched the colour of Rin’s hair, making them flutter around her head, her daughter smiling as she marvelled, reaching out and having one land on her finger. “Arthremel told me he’d never seen a mage wield her power so beautifully. We got to talking for a short time, until Lord Ekilion snatched me away.

“Your father could see it, of course, that I was being held against my will by him. He managed to approach me again and told me that if his services were required, he would simply make him disappear without me ever being cast under a suspicious light. I told him if he was that efficient, I likely couldn’t afford him. He told me his fee was a kiss, possibly two and he wouldn’t accept payment until the job was done.

“I had nothing to lose, so I told him to go ahead. After we’d made camp that night, I awoke to the sound of Lady Ekilion calling for her husband, shouting for the guards who were also missing. The stretch of river about a quarter of a mile from our camp was notorious for the giant alligators who lived within the water, the lady finding the remains of her husband and guards among where the creatures were basking.

“While she and the rest of her staff were fussing and mourning, I packed my belongings and slipped away. Your father met me about half a mile away, where he received his kiss, a second too, and a third. We were together from that moment, clichéd as it sounds and I know it does! He was my great love, though.

“We sadly only had just over four years together before I lost him. I wish you could have known him, he was a great man, of honour and bravery and considering his profession as a sword for hire, also how formidable he was, he was perhaps the calmest man I’d ever met. He rarely ever succumbed to rage. He was wonderful,” she finished, her eyes a little glassy as she spoke of her darling Arthremel.

“I’d come and offer you a hug right now since I see talking of him has stirred your emotions, but currently I’m having pains,” Rin stated, rubbing her belly as she breathed deeply.

“False contractions, I remember them well. It shows you’re very near now,” Helene replied, Rin nodding.

“Yes, they’ve been growing in frequency over the past few days. Back to what you were telling me though, I think I see some of myself in what you’ve explained about my father, which is nice. Tell me more, about you this time, though.” So, quite simply she did. Helene and Rin sat for hours talking, until the sun had set and the moon risen. It had been twenty-one years, after all; they had much to catch up on.


	33. Chapter 33

He’d been sleeping soundly before the noises of discontent woke Geralt in the middle of the night, two weeks after Riley and Helene had arrived back. Coming round, he heard it again, a pained moan coming from the end of the bed, reaching for the tinderbox on the bedside table and lighting a candle.

“Is it time, Rin?” he asked, moving to the end of the bed where she gripped the frame and breathed deeply through the pain that had woken her.

“I’m not completely sure, but I think so. We’ll see how long it lasts, but the notable difference is the severity. I feel like someone is pulling me apart inside and it has never been quite this severe before. Fuck!” she replied, grimacing as she reached for him, suddenly quite scared.

He held her as she winced and grumbled through the pain, getting up and dressing afterwards while Rin walked up and down, finding movement helped a little. By the time the sun was starting to rise and her discomfort hadn’t subsided, it was clear that finally, their baby was on her way.

“Don’t wake Riley just yet, Geralt. He was helping the men who will be building my cottage map out the land until late before he saw to the animals. Besides, first babies usually take their time. There’s no need to panic,” Helene said a little later as she sat next to Rin, working a spell over her to ease the pain. “Better, love?” She then asked.

“Much. Thank you,” she said, feeling a lot less tense.

“Just a warning, but the healer who delivers might not let me use my magic to help you with the pain once she arrives. A lot don’t, they do not see it as a mage’s place,” she warned, Rin frowning.

“She can fuck off then,” she muttered, making her mother and Geralt laugh. Rin being Rin, though, she’d toughened herself to it a little more by the time Riley took off on Ed to fetch the healer, looking more annoyed whenever she felt the sporadic pain than actually pained over it. All was fine until around mid-morning, when the panic began to set in.

“Geralt, what if she’s evil? What if she comes out and we can’t control her? How do you tell a new born baby to cease being an all-consuming force that will wreck everything in her path?” She exclaimed, holding her stomach and growling her way through another contraction, gripping his hand so hard, his knuckles cracked.

“My love, you’re spiralling. She isn’t going to be born evil,” he began.

“You can’t say that for definite!” Rin shouted, straightening up again and shedding a few scared tears.

“Rin, if her natural power is anything like it is with us mages, it will take her a few years to come into it. She shan’t be born evil. You’re working yourself up into a lather needlessly. I think you should sit down, relax for a bit. Pacing is doing you no good. Here, sip this. I’m going to go and tend to the animals.” Helene told her, stroking her hair.

Kissing her forehead, she handed over the tea, Geralt managing to steer Rin to sit between his legs, resting back against his chest as they occupied the window seat together in their bedroom.

“Are you a little less panicked now?” he asked, kissing the side of her head as he stroked her arms.

“Yes…no… I’m unsure. I wasn’t expecting it to affect me this much, be this painful or emotionally tasking. I feel weak that it’s thrown me through such a loop,” she fumed, sounding more like her usual self. Only Rin could be annoyed that something was inconveniencing her more than she’d expected, both physically and mentally.

“You’re one of the toughest people I know. You will get through this wonderfully and have something beautiful to show for it. Just think, hopefully by this time tomorrow, she’ll be here.” His words were comforting, Rin focusing on that, on knowing that soon, she’d get to finally hold her baby.

They were both quite content in the roles they fell into, Geralt keeping her mind off anything she’d begin panicking about and Rin quite content to let him, all until the healer and her assistant arrived back and ordered him out.

“It’s standard, men not being allowed around during the birth. She’ll be fine, I’ll be with her,” Helene assured him, reaching up and kissing his cheek, noting how disgruntled he looked.

“Hmm,” he began, frowning. “Thank you, though. I’ll be downstairs then, I suppose.” He continued down the stairs to find Riley holding out a bottle of fire rum in his direction, taking in and having a few gulps.

“Come on, this is Rin we’re taking about. She’ll give birth and be back out there trying to hunt down monsters the evening after! She’ll do fine, with you there or not.” He assured him, Geralt frowning more and taking another swig.

He supposed he was no different to any other expectant father having to wait elsewhere while his baby was brought into the world, so dealt with it quickly and paced around downstairs, periodically going out to see the animals before heading back to Riley.

Geralt was fine with this too, for most of the afternoon and evening, until the night came, when the active part of Rin’s labour began. Her screams were horrific, in the most agony she’d ever been, exhausted and utterly fed up, shouting ‘I don’t want to fucking do it any fucking more!’ angrily at the healer.

It was torture, to hear her in such pain, something he wasn’t used to when she was usually so strong and contained. He knew he should be by her side too, the fact that he couldn’t driving him mad. She needed him.

“She’s not good, is she?” he asked Helene as she descended the stairs, going to pour herself a quick drink of water before she went back up.

“Better than she sounds or thinks, but she’s so tired at this point, the poor thing. Tired, in a lot of pain and scared that she’s not quite as tough as she thought she’d be, going through childbirth. Geralt, no, you can’t!” She explained, trying then to stop him as he made a run for the stairs. She wasn’t fast enough though.

“Excuse me! You’re not supposed to be in here, you must leave, at once!” the healers assistant bustled at him as he burst into the bedroom, striding over to the bed.

“Fuck off,” he told her simply, pointing at her with a warning look as he climbed onto the bed behind Rin, wrapping his arms around her.

“I’m sorry but I have to insist that…” was as far as the healer got.

“You’re here to deliver our child, not order me around in my own fucking home,” he informed her, turning his attention to Rin.

“Right, listen to me. You are Rin of Rholkrhaden, the only ember to ever walk through the fire and not scream. You are strong, formidable and wonderful, and you’re going to let a tiny baby beat you? No, that’s not the woman I know and love. Now, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. You can do this.” The healer and her assistant didn’t attempt argue with him further, for his words actually seemed to do the trick.

With his hands being grasped hard, Rin biting down onto his forearm and pushing with all her might, it wasn’t long before all the horridness was over, the tiny cries of their daughter filling the room, the healer placing her onto Rin’s chest. In that moment, it wasn’t just a baby who was born, two parents were too.

“Look at her hair! It’s white, like yours,” Rin exclaimed, crying with joy as her tiny baby squealed her lungs out, Geralt kissing her cheek over and over as he stroked his daughter’s tiny fingers.

“See? Not evil, just a beautiful little baby,” he whispered, the healer taking her back to check her over. “You did so well too, as I knew you would. I love you.” He then told her, Rin turning to give him a kiss, quite content to have fallen asleep right there, she was so exhausted.

Her adrenaline seemed to kick in a little, able to stand after delivering the afterbirth while the assistant cleaned up the bed and put the fresh linen down, Helene coming back up to help by giving Rin a wash down with a sponge and gently drying her off while Geralt enjoyed holding his tiny baby for the first time.

“Look at you, all small, pink and new. Finally, we meet in the flesh, little Seren. You don’t need to visit me in my dreams any longer, because I’m right here, as I always shall be.” He told her, smiling as he stroked her rosy little cheek, marvelling at how small she was. He held her to his chest easily with one hand, she was so tiny.

He couldn’t believe it, sitting back down on the bed as he handed her to her by now clean and fresh mother, Helene saying she’d see the healer and assistant out, Riley calling up that he’d escort them back to the village. There, he was looking at his child. _His_ child. It was a sight he’d never dreamed could be real.

“You look as stunned as I do. It’s strange, isn’t it? Like there’s a suddenly a kraken in the room or something else as utterly out of place!” Rin laughed, looking down at her beautiful, gurgling baby.

“You’ve put words to my feelings perfectly. It does indeed feel very strange, her being here.” Moving to lie down next to them, they lay quietly and stared at her, unable to believe she was real, or as absolutely lovely and tiny as she was.

Rin dropped her nightdress to see if she was hungry, Seren latching on right away and taking a feed. By the time she was done, her head was nodding sleepily, Geralt taking her from her exhausted mother and looking after her while she slept.

He didn’t put her down all evening, lying awake with her on his chest, either sleeping, snuffling or grizzling gently for more milk. He might have felt tired, but he didn’t want to shut his eyes and stop looking at his daughter, not even for a second.


	34. Chapter 34

“You seem to be very content there, upon your daddy’s chest. He’s very comfortable, isn’t he? Yes,” Rin told her baby after waking from her sleep. She’d thought she’d likely not be able to sleep off and on as well as she did throughout the first night, having to feed her every few hours, but her will to snooze after going through something so exhausting was much stronger than she realised.

“She’s very quiet, she only makes noise when she’s hungry, wet or has done a massive shit, like she did about an hour ago. Brace yourself for those, they’re awful. Your mother had to assist, I didn’t have a fucking clue what to do. I was seconds away from dunking her backside into the water trough,” he told her, yawning hard.

“You’ve been awake all night, haven’t you? Geralt, go to sleep. You stand to be just as tired as I do, raising this lovely little bundle,” she told him affectionately, turning over carefully and stroking his face, kissing him too before taking Seren from him. “Sleep, my love.” she then told him, watching him fight his eyelids from closing. He lasted all of five seconds.

“There, that’s daddy asleep. Now it’s our time together, little sweetheart,” Rin told Seren lovingly, stroking her wisps of white hair. “You smell so good.” She then whispered, kissing her head and breathing in her new baby scent, the loveliest thing she’d ever smelled.

Standing carefully, she headed downstairs to find her mother, Helene greeting her with a warm hug.

“I’ve just begun breakfast, blood pudding and eggs. Shall I make you a plate?” she asked, stroking Rin’s hair lovingly and soothing Seren when she started to complain.

“That would be wonderful, thank you. I’m starving! I do not think I’m the only one either,” she began, sitting down in the armchair and slipping her nightgown down, Seren immediately latching on. “Is there bread left? I’d love some toast too.”

“Look at her! She’s so good, you took your time with latching on. It took about five attempts while you roared your lungs out at full volume before you worked out that my breast was where what you were shouting for came from! And yes, plenty of bread. I baked yesterday while the healer was on her way,” Helene revealed, walking back to the kitchen just as Riley entered the house.

“Sorry, I didn’t realise you had a boob out! I was just eager to come and meet the small person,” he commented, turning back when he realised she was feeding the baby.

“I think that’s the only time you’ve ever apologised for seeing a boob,” Rin teased. “It’s fine, come in and sit down.” Walking over, he took a seat on the arm of the chair she was in, giving her a thumbs up when he viewed Seren for the first time.

“She’s lovely, just like her mama. Thank goodness she doesn’t look like Geralt,” he joked, Rin elbowing him in the thigh. “Look at her though, she’s like a little doll, so dainty! Hello, small person. I’m Riley, aka the one you’ll likely be able to walk all over sooner or later because you’re so damn cute.”

Rin laughed quietly at his words, Riley settling down on the sofa opposite, Helene calling out if he wanted food too as she bustled around in the kitchen.

“You’re a wonderful woman, Helene! I’ll come and help you momentarily,” he called back, smiling at Rin. “It’s nice, isn’t it? To know she came here sincere. You should have seen her take those men out, Rin. You get your fortitude right from her.” Getting up, he kissed her forehead, Seren’s too before heading into the kitchen, arriving back after a few moments with bread stuck to the end of a toaster fork, holding them over the fire.

Smiling to herself, Rin thought it was exactly that, nice, to suddenly have this family all around her. Riley making toast, her mother singing over in the kitchen, her daughter suckling in her arms and her love sleeping upstairs.

She often thought you could never truly miss something you’d never known, but experiencing it for the first time, she realised in wistfulness just how lovely it would have been when she was growing up. “I wouldn’t change any of it though, definitely no. It all brought me to now, here with you. I shall tell you all about it one day, when you’re old enough to understand. Oh, the stories your daddy and I will tell you of our lives.” She told her baby, smiling down at her.

Rin found herself revealing a few anyway as Seren took her feed, going to the drawer full of baby items and pulling out a burping cloth to drape over her shoulder while she got her wind and inevitably a little bit of sick up too. A little bit was an understatement, Seren managing to miss the cloth entirely and cover Rin’s arm in a long trail of spit up milk.

“Here, let me finish this and you eat,” Helene said, placing her plate on the table in the dining area and walking over to take the cloth, cleaning Rin’s arm before throwing it over her own shoulder and taking the baby.

“Thanks, mum,” she said, completely without thinking, making Helene pause to look at her with delighted disbelief. “Sorry, that just came out without me even realising! You don’t mind, do you?”

“I think that’s the loveliest thing I’ve heard in years. Go and eat, darling.” Taking her granddaughter, Helene turned away so Rin wouldn’t see her shedding a few overcome, happy tears, beyond thrilled to hear her refer to as her mum.

After all, it had been her very first word, spoken while she’d been sitting on her father’s lap being fed apple sauce. Clear as anything, with apple covered, rosy little cheeks, ‘mumumumum’, she’d repeated distinctly in her beautiful baby speech. She’d waited a long time to hear it again.

Enjoying the little break to eat, Rin watched her mother rocking Seren expertly, softly singing old folk songs to her, soothing her to sleep before putting her down in her little baby basket Rin had bought for her to sleep in when she was downstairs. It was lovely to witness, her mother getting to be just that, as well as a grandmother too.

Truly, Helene had been just as alone as she had in the years that had separated them, believing each other to be dead. They might have been surrounded by others during that time, but it was a lonely existence, no true bonds of family. It was lovely for them to spend time together, but in the first few days after Seren’s birth, Rin much preferred to spend the bulk of her time with just her daughter and Geralt.

“I feel we’re setting a dangerous president here. I think she’s only slept in her cot twice in the last four days,” he commented, Seren sleeping soundly between them. They’d fallen into the habit of letting her sleep in their bed, pillows either side of her to neither could turn over and crush her in their sleep. Not that she was letting either of them sleep for particularly long.

“I know, but I don’t like her not being right next to us. It’s a protection thing for me too, wanting her right beside me. I feel like she’s more vulnerable now she isn’t still safely within my belly, especially after what mum saw. If they’re this far north, they’ll be searching still, likely wondering what happened to the group who she so successfully terminated,” Rin sighed, of course referring to the Sanctuary.

“This child has an ember, two witchers and a sorceress under one roof. Do you honestly think anyone is going to get past such a force?” he questioned with incredulity, stroking Seren’s cheek when she began to fuss.

“Hmm, good point. You can’t blame me for feeling trepidation though,” she commented, Geralt nodding.

“Not at all. I sometimes experience the same thoughts, knowing they’re circulating this part of the north doesn’t exactly fill me with glee, but I reason that for my child there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect her, which is a sentiment shared by you, your mother and Riley too. Try not to think about it too much, just enjoy being a new parent. As much as she’s prepared to let us anyway. Come on, noisy. What’s wrong?”

Picking up his daughter, who had gone from grumbling to full on meltdown, he held her to his chest and stroked her cheek, her squeals beginning to lessen until she was quiet again. “Look at the size of this little finger and already, you have me wrapped around it.” Rin laughed at his words, leaning over carefully and kissing him, wincing a little.

“Sore?” he asked, kissing the tip of her nose and stroking her cheek.

“Very. I need to put my ointment on again, it’s absolutely fantastic.” The ointment to which she referred was a blend Helene had created for her, to expedite her recovery from the birth. To say she was in pain was an understatement.

“I’m not surprised. I only got a momentary glance when I barged in, but fuck, you poor thing. I will be kissing your cunt better as much as you want me to once you’re healed for all the trauma it went through,” he exclaimed, making her laugh as she took her ointment pot and scooped out a dollop, lifting her dress and applying a liberal smear while cursing.

“Yes, you bloody will!” she growled, turning over and resting her head on his chest, kissing Seren’s beautiful, rosy cheeks as Geralt wrapped his arm around her, very content to lie there peacefully with the two most important people in his entire world curled up with him.

It might have been very different and very new to them, but so far parenthood was suiting two people who never thought it would much better than either could have imagined.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a lovely festive period! Apologies I haven't updated for a while, life gets in the way sometimes.

“Tiny girl, what are the purpose of these repeated conniptions?” Geralt spoke, lifting his screaming daughter into his arms and taking her downstairs so Rin could sleep. “You’re fed, dry and un-shitty in the nappy department and well rested. What on earth could you need?”

It was one of the rare moments where the comfort of his warm chest did nothing to soothe her either, Seren’s displeasure continuing as she howled furiously. In the end, he took her outside, knowing since Riley slept like a corpse she wouldn’t wake him over in his cottage, going over to see the horses in their stables.

“Yes, she’s loud, isn’t she? She doesn’t wish to cease being loud either. Any advice, Roach?” he asked his mare as she ambled over to see what the commotion was, sniffing Seren and gently nudging the howling baby with her soft muzzle. This seemed to quieten a little until suddenly, the crying stopped completely.

“Well, it’s decided. She can come and live in the hay manger with you since apparently, you are the baby whisperer.” He joked, patting her neck and smiling as she continued to show interest in Seren. All the horses were very curious over her, Ed greeting her at a few days old by licking her feet and making her throw a huge tantrum about it. Blanche was the same as Roach, sniffs and nudges.

He wandered back to the house eventually, just as the sun was coming up, finding another awake in the form of Helene, sitting at the table reading through the large bundles of notes she and Riley had returned with a few weeks ago. It was the perfect opportunity for him to sit down and ask about something that had been on his mind since Seren’s birth.

“The horses soothe her, don’t they? I took her to see Blanche yesterday afternoon while you both napped, they definitely have a calming effect upon her,” she noted quietly, watching Seren sleep soundly in her father’s huge arms.

“They truly do seem to. I’m glad I have you alone for a while, because there’s something I need to discuss with you,” he replied, Helene immediately looking away from the parchment in front of her to give him her full attention.

“When you first met Rin and told her that Seren would be a force the world was not prepared for, exactly how did you know that? Did you see clearly what would definitely come to pass, or was it mere scare tactics and propaganda of your former sect?” he asked, Helene clearing her throat as she poured out a mug of black tea for them both.

“It wasn’t propaganda, Geralt. I saw what Seren will become, should darkness take hold of her heart, should we not be able to keep her within the light. She might be the tiniest of beautiful, harmless babies right now, but when she does come into her power, it’s going to take us a lot to teach her not to succumb to it.

“We’ve already seen what she’s capable of when using her mother as a conduit before she was born. I shudder to think that might happen if we can’t control it, or ideally remove her of it by the time she hits her teenage years. All those hormones and emotions mixed with such power?” Shaking her head, she feared for a moment she might have said too much.

“That’s exactly what I fear, too. Ideally, I’d like her to have no powers at all, to be alleviated of such a burden and just be a normal little girl. Rin and I desperately want for her to have the childhood that we didn’t, but I cannot see how that will be possible if she’s going to be constantly at the mercy of a power that not even she can control,” he sighed, glad Helene had been honest with him.

“Well, this is exactly why I am pursuing the removal option before anything else. There has to be a way to do it. Alas, I am yet to find anything in the notes I made from Millicent’s texts. It needs to specifically refer to a child. Half of these are not only geared toward another witch, but also have no leeway in how I could tinker with them to adjust them, making them child suitable,” she told him, placing another piece of parchment face down with a sigh.

“Truthfully, what is your chance of being able to adjust such accordingly?” he asked, rocking Seren when she began to grizzle.

“I have every chance. We have every chance, because you’re my family. She’s my granddaughter, I shan’t cease my search until I have found a way to ensure her safety, to remove her of all which places a target on her head. On that, you have my word.” Getting up, she squeezed his arm and laid a kiss atop his head before heading into the kitchen, Geralt deciding to go back upstairs now the baby was settled.

“Do my ears deceive me, or is she quiet?” Rin asked as his weight dipped the mattress beside her, turning over and being welcomed into his arms.

“She’s asleep, which means my other favourite girl now gets my full attention.” He told her, stroking her hair as they kissed. It might have only been just over ten days since she’d given birth, but her arousal for the father of her child burned brightly.

Unfortunately, her body was still letting her know that sex wasn’t an option though. Being kissed and stroked would have to do. It took a few more weeks for Rin to feel back to normal again and once she did, nothing was going to get in her way.

After Geralt had gone to bathe in the river one morning, Rin asked her mother if she minded looking after Seren for her, her cottage now finished. It was substantially closer than she’d first planned, just through the trees a short distance from Riley’s upon their land. She enjoyed having her close by.

“Enjoy yourself. I expect I’ll likely hear you from over here,” Helene said with a wink, Rin looking aghast.

“Mother!” she exclaimed, shaking her head but eventually laughing, realising it was the very first time she’d been embarrassed by her mum. At least Riley hadn’t been anywhere near to hear it, off pursuing his work for a few months.

Heading back over to the house, she washed and changed into her favourite, thin strapped, dark green dress that showed off her ample cleavage and post-pregnancy curves. She’d lost some of her weight, but definitely still held bigger hips and a fuller bum.

She didn’t care, the way she looked drove Geralt just as wild as she did back when she was a lot svelter. She still felt very desirable. After applying a little of her apple and vanilla perfume and brushing her hair, she went downstairs and found the object of her affections in the kitchen, cleaning a bridle in the sink.

“You shouldn’t have bothered dressing again after your trip to the river. You see, with mum looking after the baby and me all nicely healed, I did have some plans for the day. None of them involve clothes,” she told him, unbuttoning his shirt as she kissed his neck, elegant fingers stroking his chest.

“These plans sound interesting. I think I’d like to know your intentions in finer detail,” he replied, smiling. He’d been looking forward to this moment with barely concealed urgency whenever he wasn’t so tired, his eyes burned.

“The finer detail would be that I want you to take me to bed plough me like a corn field.” His deep, rumbling laugh filled the room at hearing that, Rin gently biting his earlobe with a little growl before he turned in her arms and brought his mouth to hers in a passionate kiss.

It felt good to be able to hold her to him again without a big belly full of baby in the way, Geralt carrying her upstairs to the bed and climbing on top of her. The weight of him, just that atop her forced a gasp of delight from her mouth. Her body had missed him.

The rest of his shirt buttons were undone via her yanking it open, kissing him hungrily as she moaned into his mouth, her nails grazing his back, the heat of his mounting erection making her squirm as she felt it against her sex. Hot, hard, the giver of such magmatic pleasure; she couldn’t wait to envelop that hardness within her cunt.

His lips mapped a constellation across her chest, his hands slipping her straps down, fingertips stroking her breasts as his tongue slipped between them. He’d yearned for this, to enjoy her again, no matter that being a new father had left him in a permanent state of exhaustion for the first six weeks.

His mouth chartered a path across her stomach, hands flexing at her full hips while his tongue circled her navel, Rin’s body arching off the bed when one hand dropped down to stroke her bare mound, fingers navigating their way between her pink folds.

A shuddered breath left his mouth and a bite was laid to her hip at feeling warm, dewy wetness there waiting for him, her voice emitting a loud exclamation when one finger slipped within her, followed by a second, slick heat pulsing around them appreciatively.

The last thing she had felt between her legs was complete and utter agony, so to now have utter splendour conjured by his fingers, his tongue adding to it as he lightly flicked it over her clit, sent Rin into the realms of sexual paradise.

Her hands tangled in his hair, her thighs tensing as she sighed with satisfaction. Even his hot breaths against her caused sensational little glimmers that turned those sighs into deeper moans, her body fidgety as pleasure coursed through it.

Each swirling caress of his tongue had her panting hard, wriggling in delight against his mouth as he licked her clit with such unremitting focus, she could barely tolerate how amazing it felt. His fingers then joined his tongue, stroking at her before they pushed inside her, groaning as he began sucking on her clit, Rin running her nails across the back of his neck as she gasped and shuddered.

It was worth waiting for, revelling in his incredible prowess, arousing her illimitably with every quickly delivered lick over her nub, stoking her fire. He then slowed down each movement against her, licking at her so languidly and softly he was barely touching her at all, removing his fingers completely and sliding his hands up her body to stroke her tits.

That lightened, slowed touch just intensified the glimmers she felt, practically hollering in ecstasy, her clit becoming so sensitive she didn’t know whether she wanted him to carry on or stop. It was one of those cases where the pleasure was just too good to bear, her legs writhing against his face as she ran her hands down his bulky arms, consumed completely.

“Geralt, please fuck me. I need your cock so badly!” she exclaimed, wailing loudly when he alternated to begin sucking her clit so hard, she felt her eyes cross.

“You can wait. I’m not finished driving you within an inch of your senses yet.” He told her before he resumed sucking at her, hands gliding back down her body to stroke her thighs before pushing them down on the bed and holding them there.

He then ran them down to use his fingertips to spread her pussy lips, giving him better access with his tongue to continue licking at her relentlessly, her moans and little cries of pleasure making his own arousal burn, his cock hard, dying to be inside of her. It had been too long for his liking, not being able to enjoy her.

“Actually, whether you can wait or not is immaterial. I can’t. I’ve longed for…ahh, fuck, this too much.” He told her, pausing to slide inside her, overcome at the feeling of hot, wet silk enveloping his hardness. He hadn’t even bothered removing his trousers, just pulling his cock free before burying it within her.

They kissed with longing love, passion and heat, gasping, panting, stroking and staring at one another intently as they enjoyed what they’d so missed since the birth of their daughter. Each thrust was generously given, no tease now, Rin’s nails sliding down his back before turning him onto it.

“I didn’t think it would take long.” She smirked at his assertion, beginning to ride him with her usual vigour, pushing him back down to the bed when he attempted to move.

“No. You’ll stay right there on your back and let me ride out every last bit of my sexual frustration upon you,” she told him assertively, Geralt raising an eyebrow at her.

“You assume I shall let you, do you?” he asked, Rin climbing off him to remove his trousers, wanting him naked.

“If you know what’s good for you, you shall.” Taking him within her heat again, she began to grind against him hard, but with little speed. She clenched her slick muscles around him with every focused, downward roll of her hips, sparking his pleasure wildly but keeping him simmering, her fiery eyes watching him intently.

He knew what was good for him, it seemed, letting her pin him down but knowing she wouldn’t be able to sustain a slow pace forever, her nails digging into his chest as she became more fervid in her movements, erotic energy charging through her, feeding into him as suddenly, he wasn’t so keen on being overpowered.

Rin found herself dominated at speed, Geralt picking her up and climbing off the bed, slamming her into the opposite wall and holding her throat as he began to drive into her cunt, pounding her until she screamed.

“Fuck, you absolute beast,” she groaned, kissing him with fiery passion.

“Just the way you like me.” He replied, tongue dancing with hers again as he felt her nails imbed into his shoulders, removing him of a layer of skin when they tore down his back. It was like that for the hours they were without the baby for, Seren eventually returning when she needed a feed.

It was a contrasting image for Geralt, to see Rin looking so serene and beautiful as she fed their child, sitting on the window seat he’d previously fucked her on. It was a beautiful view to him though, knowing he had a woman capable of being both sexual enchantress and peaceful mummy to their little one.

“I love you, beautiful,” he told her, Rin smiling and blowing him a kiss. Walking over to, he moved to sit behind her, stroking her hair and having Seren close her tiny hand around one of his fingers.

“I love you too, so very much.” She finally replied, turning to kiss his stubble flecked cheek, Geralt returning the gesture affectionately at the side of her neck. There they were, a little family of three. In that moment, life was truly content.


	36. Chapter 36

“What? What is it that’s so funny, my little one?” Rin cooed at Seren, laughing softly at her daughter’s hysterics. Eight months had flown by since her birth, her beautiful baby the absolute centre of her world, along with the man who was standing behind them currently, pulling the kind of faces that had the baby in fits of laughter. “Ahhh, daddy of the many silly faces!” she then added, turning to kiss Geralt.

“I notice an empty bowl on the table. So, peaches were a success then?” he asked, taking off his boots and having Rin pass him the giggling bundle, Geralt making her squeal with joy when he blew a huge raspberry on her little belly.

“Very much so, better than applesauce!” Seren enjoyed her bowls of mashed fruit greatly, however apples definitely weren’t to her palette. Much to Geralt’s disgust, she did love oranges, though. He was hoping for an ally there in his extreme dislike for that particular fruit.

She’d taken to weaning well, enjoying mashed food and all the new tastes her parents offered to her, but Rin still breastfed her at night before putting her down to sleep. She was now at the age where texture and colours were very interesting to her too, the baby curious over much around her.

“No, no! You can’t have my eyeballs, no! I’ll eat these little hands, I will!” Riley shouted in a silly voice later that afternoon, Seren transfixed by his bright yellow irises as she’d been ever since she could reach and grasp, playfully pretending to bite her little fingers as she giggled heartily. “Come on, Ed. Let’s take your tiny passenger for a stroll.”

Putting her up on his back, he held her up as he walked at Ed’s side, Seren gurgling as she grasped his mane, Ed and his good nature not batting an eyelid when she tugged. They took a tour of the field, Riley pointing at all the wild flowers and naming them for her. She was too little for speech yet, but her family talked to her endlessly to prepare her for her first words.

“I didn’t think he’d take to being an uncle of sorts quite as well as he has,” Geralt observed, looking out at Riley in the distance, Rin pouring him a beer as she came to sit down at the table with him, sipping her cider.

“He really has, hasn’t he? Mind you, all three of us weren’t exactly the types anyone could imagine doting on a little baby, but look at us now.” It had taken Rin by surprise greatly, just how well she had adjusted to motherhood. It had kept her awake some nights, wondering how she’d cope with such a stark change.

She’d gone from a woman who couldn’t cook or bake to save her life, to someone accomplished within the kitchen, knowing how to look after her home and the people within it, her daughter especially. However, she was still the same person, just slightly evolved. When it came to it, her fire burned just as brightly as ever.

“Come on, you smelly sack of dead flesh. You want my neck? Hah, too slow!” she taunted, she and Geralt taking out a group of night stalker vampires about fifteen miles from home, their first trip away overnight since Seren was born. “There’s only one man who gets to bite me, it’s not you, either.” She then added before her silver sword decapitated him, sending a ball of fire to burn another two coming at her.

“I intend to do just that when we get back to the inn,” Geralt told her after slaying the last one, pulling her into his embrace to kiss her feverishly.

“Why wait? When was the last time we fucked in the middle of a dark forest?” she told him, sheathing her sword and then jumping up into his arms. He didn’t answer her with words, kissing her as he carried her away from the stench of the dead and further into the thick of the trees.

“So, when can I convince you to stop drinking that potion your mother brewed for you and let me get you pregnant again?” he asked, panting with desire for her as he pulled off her top, mouth hungrily attacking her bare breasts.

Helene had brewed something for her that worked in meaning any possible pregnancy wouldn’t take, Rin not wanting to add to their numbers again quite so soon after Seren’s birth. Geralt, however, had other ideas. He very much wanted a son.

“You know why, Geralt. Now, shut up and fuck me.” The reason why was the fact that they couldn’t rule out any other child born to them would be the same as Seren, a highly powerful being whose natural abilities would cause issues down the line, even though these were yet to manifest.

The truth was, Rin relished in the idea of having as many babies as possible, absolutely adoring being a mother. She’d have let him get her pregnant the first time they had sex after Seren’s birth, but until they knew how to disarm their daughter from her power, adding another child who would likely be afflicted with the same as their elder sister was out of the question.

For the most part, Geralt completely understood her reasoning, but sometimes he did try and test the water to see if she felt differently. Rin couldn’t lie, it did irk her a little, but at the same time she knew it was because he absolutely loved being a father, so she tried not to let it affect her temper too much.

In that moment, having her nipples bitten as he yanked the fastening on her tight, moleskin trousers open, was another instance of her not rising to it and reminding him strongly exactly why she didn’t want to conceive another child yet.

All that rose for her then was the lust for the man who she shared endless, passionate kisses with, the man who had just swallowed her moan as he thrust two fingers into her silken wetness. She hadn’t enjoyed a torrid, alfresco, half-dressed fuck since she was pregnant, so fully relished in it, his fingers conjuring their usual sexual bliss within her, withdrawing to rub at her clit as he sucked her tongue and groaned.

“Fuck, I want you.” She panted between kisses, undoing his trousers and delving her hand within to grasp the firm erection straining for release. He suddenly crouched down, yanking her trousers to her ankles and ducking around between her legs, pulling his down a little more before he stood and lifted her, Rin tightening her legs around his waist as he pushed inside her plush heat.

“There, now you have me.” He told her, kissing her ferociously as he groaned into her mouth, her heat devastating, consuming, maddening. He still wondered how she was real, all beauty and fiery heat with the most perfect, toned body he’d ever seen. Pregnancy had changed it a little, but he desired every difference in her post-pregnancy figure just as much, everything that bared witness to her carrying his child.

Burying himself inside her wet cunt again and again, her clenching around him made torrid glimmers flow through his loins, her fiery irises burning for him as she stroked his neck with her nails and kissed him passionately.

She pulled off her tunic, the autumn chill prickling her skin, the warmth of Geralt’s mouth as it closed over her nipples in turn a beautiful contrast. Her back soon became grazed by the tree, but it was a worthy trade for what she had inflicted within her by the large, hard cock assailing her insides.

He fucked pure ebullience into her, heat igniting her very bones as she wailed helplessly. They rushed in fierce undulation towards their release, urgency consuming them, knowing for safety’s sake they had to make their tryst hurried.

It was every bit as assiduously consuming as ever though, both coming undone with furious exclamations, basking in the afterglow as they kissed before dressing and hurrying out of the forest. Later that night, they had plenty of time to take their time though.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? No baby, no Riley, no Helene, just us again,” Geralt commented, sitting behind Rin in a steaming hot bath in their room at the inn they were staying at, picking splinters from her shoulders with a pin.

“It’s quiet. I like it. I do miss the baby but fuck, the peace and quiet!” she exclaimed, feeling his lips press her shoulder, kissing away the little dots of blood from her now splinter free skin as his arms tightened around her.

“Yes, I’d almost forgotten what life was like without perpetual squealing. I miss her too, but the absence of teething shrieking is very welcome to my ears,” he replied, stroking her arms as he kissed the side of her neck.

“I could make up for it with my own squealing. Except it would have nothing to do with cutting teeth and everything to do with what I sense you’re still keen to inflict upon me,” she purred, turning in his arms to kneel between his legs, slowly running her fingers down his chest.

“I’ll do more than make you squeal.” He replied, his mouth meeting hers in a passionate kiss, the candles to the side of the bathtub all burning brighter, Rin breaking their kiss to blow out all but one, save setting the room alight.

As their passions begin to stir, the single candle burned brightly, Geralt’s fingers trailing the length of her spine, running over her curves as she pushed herself against his vast chest. She felt him stiffening against her stomach, reaching between them to wrap her hand around his cock and begin working him to steely hardness.

His breath hitched, biting her lower lip before his mouth steadily trailed down her neck, hands massaging her ample bosom. Suddenly sitting up beneath her, he pushed her so she tilted back, sucking her pebbled nipples greedily as her fingers weaved through his wet hair, her other hand guiding his cock towards her opening.

The pleasure crackled through her cunt as she enveloped him, yanking his head back by his white tresses and kissing him hungrily, asserting dominance over him. He let her, to Geralt she was as consuming, overwhelming and intoxicating as ever, the fire in her eyes burning brightly as his unyielding lust for her.

He let her play him like that, his scalp tingling as they exchanged fervent, dirty kisses, tongues dancing, her cunt swallowing his mighty cock whole as the water lapped the edge of the bathtub, Rin grinding against him with slow vigour.

She felt his heartbeat pounding against her breast as his arms tightened around her, short nails grazing her back before he held her waist and stood up, water cascading from their nakedness as he stepped out and carried her over to the bed.

Their bodies dampened the covers as they writhed together, Geralt returning himself to her gaping wetness, his cock pulsing with appreciation to be back within her. His teeth nipped at her neck as she threw her head back, arching into him, the heat coiling tightly within her already.

Her hips rose up to meet him with wild desire, frantically fucking one another, wet skin sliding against wet skin, groaning for one another ceaselessly. It was a feral display of passion, mouths locked together as they fought for air delivery via rapid nasal inhales, Rin breaking free of his lips to cry out as he hit spots within that made her see sparks.

That night, they barely rested for torrid exchanges of erotic heat, but by the time they did, lying beneath the covers while they watched the fireplace crackle, they were beyond satisfied.

“Do you ever wonder what your life would have looked like, had you not gone to the fighting pit within Lord Tunwin’s estate and met me? I do, I think about it a lot, in fact. I don’t know why, when it always makes me shudder unpleasantly, to think of a life without you in it,” she told him, turning onto her side and resting her head on her hand, her other stroking his chest.

“It’d be a lot simpler, a lot quieter, but nowhere near as fulfilling. You’ve given me something I never dreamed I wanted or needed. A family. You’ll never have any idea how highly I regard you for that, my beauty,” he told her, stroking her cheek. “Of course, I regard you highly for just being you too, no matter how much you irritated me to my back teeth when we first met.”

“It feels so peculiar to me now, to remember how angry you used to make me. I think most of it was down to the fact we were so attracted to one another, yet utterly loathed to actually admit it, even to ourselves,” she laughed, Geralt nodding.

“I can admit that was most definitely the case. To answer your question properly though, it would have been much the same as it was when I met you. Travelling, monster slaying,” he replied, Rin cutting in.

“Pleasuring many women across the Continent along the way.” She laughed at the look he gave her, half sharp, half proud.

“Hmm.” This only made her laugh more.

“Admit it, you were as much of a tart as Riley is, Geralt of Rivia,” she accused, her lover raising an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t quite as busy as he. I’m also more than happy to only have one woman to keep satisfied now.” Stroking her hair, he pulled her close, kissing her head as they watched the fire die down to nothing, falling asleep soon after.

It did them good to have their moments away from home, to just be who they were before they were Seren’s parents. Home was the place they always gladly returned to though, to watch the little milestones their daughter reached as she grew. It was just a shame that sometimes, her grandma missed them.

“Mum! Come out here!” Rin called one winter morning, a month before Seren turned one.

“Just a minute, darling!” Helene called back, engrossed in a book she had borrowed from a mage friend. Trying to find a way to cure her granddaughter of the power that would eventually manifest was still taking up much of her time.

“No, come now! Seren’s walking!” At hearing those words, Helene flew from her seat and ran out to where the baby took tentative steps across the snow flecked grass towards where her father crouched, ready to swipe her up if she fell. She didn’t though, walking and laughing until she threw herself against his leg, giggling with mirth.

“Here, let me take her up to bring the horses in,” Rin offered as he stood with her in his arms, wrapping Seren in a large, woollen blanket and carrying her off down to the paddock to call the steeds in for the night.

“You should come out of the books more often, or you’ll miss all this,” Geralt said, wrapping his arm around Helene’s shoulders. He was beyond grateful to her for all she was doing, studying the ancient magical texts all she was, determined to discover a way to relieve Seren of her burden.

“I know, you’re right, I do. Equally though, I want to be prepared for when it happens, when her power manifests itself. I know for the most part we all try to forget it as much as we can, think of her as any other normal child and not one with the capabilities that she has, but it’s always there, in the back of my mind,” she commented, giving his arm an affectionate squeeze before sighing, running her hands through her hair.

“It is for her mother and I too, but we’re trying not to let it get in the way of enjoying watching her grow. You shouldn’t either. I think we should all view it as a bridge we shall cross when we get there.”

Taking his words on board, Helene decided there and then that she would leave the books where they were and enjoy more time with her family. A cure could indeed wait, watching Seren grow would never come back around again.

Little did any of them know at that point, but the cure to Seren’s affliction wasn’t anything that would be found in mere texts. The solution to this all lay within the child herself.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise again for such a length of time between updates!

**_Three years later…_ **

“Daddy, am I doing it right?” Seren asked, sat at the front of Roach’s saddle as she held her reins, steering the mare while Geralt sat behind her, holding her close, wrapped up in his cloak with him.

“You’re doing wonderfully, my little sunshine. I think you might be ready for your own pony. Would you like that, for mummy and I to teach you how to ride?” he asked, laughing at the look of delight on his daughter’s face when she turned to beam at him. “Eyes in front, keep her on the road. Look, we’re drifting.” He then added, Seren gently tugging the right rein to steer Roach straight again.

“I can really have a pony?” she squeaked, starting to bounce around excitedly.

“Once the spring markets begin then yes, I see no reason why not.” He’d already discussed it with Rin, both of them agreeing to wait until she reached four years old to teach her how to ride and furnish her with a little pony of her own.

She was just about to thank him when suddenly, her heightened senses she shared with her father picked up on something at the exact same time his did, Seren pulling Roach to a stop with his assistance as they looked at one another.

“Them.” She whispered quietly, Geralt nodding. Seren knew all about those who sought to harm her, she’d always known, of course. She just couldn’t articulate it properly until her speech had developed. She understood too it was why her parents still continued to disguise themselves whenever they were out on the road, just as Geralt was in that moment.

“Daddy, hold the reins.” Seren requested, listening intently as she clasped her hands together. Before Geralt could react in any way, she then threw them out, blue waves exiting her fingers as everything around them fell still and silent. Not a bird chirped, not even the breeze flowed.

“Seren, what are you doing?” He asked at this, a very pivotal moment. It was the first time she’d used her power since being born.

“Let’s go, daddy. They shan’t see us now, no matter that you’re disguised, its better they never see me,” she spoke, Geralt being able to feel the waves of power radiating from her.

“But what have you done, tiny?” he asked her again, trying not to take a sharp tone with her but still, impress upon her that she couldn’t react on a whim and harm others, just as he and Rin had expressed and vehemently instilled in her.

“I’ve made it stop. It’s fine, I know what you and mummy said. Let’s go home.” Squeezing his legs around Roach, he moved her forward, securing the reins in one hand while he wrapped his arm around Seren as they moved into a gentle canter.

It became apparent the more they rode, especially when he turned his head to view two members of the Sanctuary, suspended from forward motion, still as statues, exactly what Seren had stopped. Birds above were still in the sky, even a droplet of rain from a leaf was stilled mid-fall. She’d stopped time itself.

The gravity of just how powerful his little girl was hit him squarely then, as he rode Roach away further into the long grasses of the fields that would take them home, Seren waiting for a few more moments before she relented her power and grabbed onto Roach’s mane. “There, we’re fine now.” She spoke, looking up at him with a grin.

Maybe, just maybe, fine is what they would be. She’d just displayed it there and then, a clear comprehension that using her power to hurt others in order to protect herself and her family didn’t have to be done if there was another option.

Then again, the members of the Sanctuary weren’t exactly a threat. They were close by but wouldn’t have recognised them. Seren had reacted much differently when she’d felt her mother under threat in the past, prior to her birth.

“Would you have hurt them, say if they knew who I was, or who you were? If they posed a risk to our safety, would you have done what you did when you were still within your mother’s belly?” he asked her a while later, as they rode the road to home.

“I wouldn’t have any choice not to, daddy. I can’t let them hurt you or mummy, or grandma or Riley. I might not have done what I did in the past, but I would have to do something to stop them from hurting us,” she spoke, after carefully considering her words for a few moments. With her powers came the fact she was a bright and extremely articulate little girl. Geralt often forgot that she was only three.

“Why couldn’t you do what you did just then, in such a situation? Make everything stop so we can get away?” he asked.

“I can’t speak for how I might act when I’m feeling differently. I wasn’t angry or afraid then. It’s when that happens that the fire burns and I can’t stop it.” That was the first time he’d heard her articulate it, the power she possessed. It was just like that of her mother, but combined with his abilities too and together, so much stronger than anything he or Rin were capable of producing.

He was just about to question her a little more when she suddenly squeaked with excitement over a hawk landing in a tree nearby, his little girl truly going back to being a little girl once more rather than one trying to explain the why and wherefore behind her exceptional powers.

He decided he wanted her to enjoy being a child as much as possible, so left it there, not wanting to interrogate her. When they arrived home a short time later, she ran into her mother’s open arms, Rin scooping her to smother her in kisses, Seren then squirming to be put down so she could help unpack everything contained within Roach’s saddle bags that they’d bought while at the local village.

“We need to talk,” Geralt told Rin after greeting her with an affectionate kiss.

“Why, is something wrong?” she asked, stroking his chest through the dark blue shirt he was wearing, a frown creasing her delicate features.

“Well, yes and no. Don’t worry, though. I think it’s something your mother should hear too, so you keep little one entertained and I’ll walk up and fetch her.” Rin nodded, receiving another kiss before Geralt set off in the direction of Helene and Riley’s homes, Riley’s vacant at present since the witcher was away hunting and had been since the late summer.

By the time he arrived back, Rin had Seren settled with a large lump of clay to pacify her (as making little models was one of her favourite hobbies) before heading into the kitchen afterwards to drink tea and hear Geralt’s news.

“Her powers have manifested,” he began simply, Helene nodding knowingly as she exchanged a glance with Rin.

“I wondered what it was that I felt a while ago while I was down here sorting through laundry with Rin. We both remarked that we felt odd for a few moments, there was this sudden wave of energy and then I felt nothing at all. Almost like coming round from fainting, yet I didn’t faint,” she explained, sipping her tea.

“That is likely because of how she used them, what she did. We both became aware of a sudden presence from members of the Sanctuary and before I knew it, she made time stand still. Everything around us was stopped, birds in the sky, the breeze, those members of Sanctuary. We were the only ones able to move through what she’d cast out.

“She explained it by saying she didn’t want them to see her at all, thought it was better that way. What she said afterwards was of particular interest though. I questioned whether she could just do that again in the future rather than resorting to what she had prior to her birth, and she told me that it would depend on whether she was angry or scared.

“She explained that when she feels those emotions, she can’t control the fire within her, meaning of course her power. When she isn’t scared, she can. Notably too, she still feels it very much her duty to protect us from them. She specifically stated that should harm be looming over us, any of us, she’d have no other choice but to harm those posing the threat.”

“Well, when Enillah said she’d had powers the likes of which the world was yet to see, she certainly wasn’t wrong,” Rin began, looking over her shoulder to where Seren was sitting at the table in the lounge, humming to herself happily while kneading her clay. “She stopped time? That’s incomprehensible power.” She then added, astonished.

“Well, this will be the test. I’m going to borrow Blanche and head out for a ride, if you don’t mind? I want to see if the surrounding area where she released her power is crawling with Sanctuary members, as I envisage it might be. If I felt something, then it’s likely any of their mages close by did too.

“I think now is the time we really need to begin impressing upon her that no matter her power, we are the adults of the family. It is our duty to protect her and not the other way around. I also know of spells and tinctures I can blend to help her with those emotions she speaks of having little control over. If she feels upset, all she has to do is drink. Whether they will work or not, I don’t know, but we have options! We can try!” Helelne spoke, her voice escalating by the second.

“Mum, shhhh, you’re spiralling,” Rin spoke comfortingly, watching as her mother’s eyes glassed with tears. Moving to hug her, Helene let out a small sob in her ear.

“I should have found something by now! I’ve had three bloody years. What kind of sorceress am I if I cannot even help my own granddaughter?” she sighed, composing herself and reaching for her tea.

“It wasn’t your burden to shoulder alone, Helene. We all let it fall by the wayside a little in favour of a few years of normality, watching her grow, hearing her first word, etcetera. You mustn’t blame yourself.” Geralt told her, smiling when he remembered what that first word was. Roach. It sounded more like Ro-shhhhhh, Seren pointing at the mare grazing peacefully while shouting her name.

“Yes, when you put it like that, I suppose you’re right. I’m still going to take Blanche out though and snoop around.” Rin nodded, kissing her mother’s cheek before she turned to leave, saying goodbye to Seren on the way out.

“I feel like I’ve aged ten years, suddenly,” Rin exclaimed, reaching for the bottle of fire rum she kept stashed on a high shelf in the kitchen and pulling the cork out to take a few swigs, Geralt following suit when she offered the bottle.

“I identify with that greatly. At least we had three years of normality. I just wish it could have been longer, for her sake. I don’t relish in the fact she will now struggle with this, nor the fact that at the first instance of feeling intimidated by them, she’ll prove herself to be exactly what they claim her to be. She’s not a fucking monster,” he spoke, sighing as he corked the bottle and put it back, pulling Rin into his arms.

“She isn’t. She’s just a little girl and now, her entire world will be turned upside down because of what she is. I know we always knew this day would come, but it was so easy to forget about it.”

Standing in each other’s arms, they watched their precious little girl playing with her clay, making grumbling noises that were one hundred percent inherited from her father when her modelling didn’t go according to plan.

They both wished with everything they had that craft project issues were the most of her worries, their hearts aching that going forward, they would be the very least.


	38. Chapter 38

“Everywhere is clear, much to my surprise. If they did feel something then it could only have been what I did, just that small, strange occurrence,” Helene spoke as soon as she came through the door of Geralt and Rin’s home a few hours after she’d left.

“Well, I could have told you that, grandma,” Seren suddenly piped up from where she was sitting in front of the fireplace, running a comb through her freshly washed hair after having a bath.

“What do you mean, sweetheart? Helene asked, her and Rin walking over to where she sat and taking a seat on the sofa.

“I made them stop, so they wouldn’t have felt my power, nor exactly where it came from. That’s the point of stopping everything. No one knows where I am that way,” she explained simply, frowning when she reached a tangle, Rin assisting with easing it out. “They’re waiting for something more considerable. I’m not going to make that happen, though, because I might only be three, but I’m cleverer than that.”

“If you’re really clever, Seren, you’ll do that instead of harming them. Imagine that, every time you sense them near, just make everything stop and then carry on your way,” Rin suggested. It sometimes made her marvel, just how intelligent and verbally astute her daughter was, being able to have such conversations with her when she was still at a tender age. Her comprehension was astounding.

“Because they won’t stop. Unless you change your mind and let me stop them. I can do that. I can make every one of them stop, but not for a short time. For always.” She and Helene exchanged concerned looks, both then glancing at Geralt who wore the same expression. Seren’s coolness at describing how she could easily eradicate the Sanctuary was very unnerving.

“We’ve discussed this already though, tiny. Letting you use your powers on them to that kind of extent isn’t an option. It’s wrong, and yes we know that their pursuit of us isn’t right, but we shan’t stoop to their level,” Geralt told her, scooping her up onto his lap, Seren snuggling into his bulk.

“So then what do we do? Even if you cure me of my power, who says they’ll believe you? They’ll still come after us all,” she sighed, Geralt feeling his chest tighten uncomfortably. She was three. This wasn’t her responsibility.

“It isn’t your burden, darling.” He stroked her hair and kissed her head, wrapping his arms around her as he stared at the fire, the flames reflecting in his amber eyes as his forehead creased with worry. Later that night, he found himself staring into the fireplace in the bedroom in much the same way, with the other most important woman in his word lying against his chest.

“Should we let her?” he asked suddenly, stroking Rin’s bare back idly.

“Excuse me?” she questioned, looking up at him.

“Should we just get this over with and let her dispatch of the Sanctuary entirely? She can go back to just being a normal little girl then, with no threat hanging over her,” he proposed, Rin sitting up sharply.

“No, Geralt. No. Firstly, letting her do that makes her the very antithesis of a normal little girl and secondly, the Order of the Embers are likely still looking for her too. Just because we haven’t encountered them doesn’t mean they aren’t out there, searching for the weapon that escaped them,” she stated strongly, her lover sighing deeply as he nodded.

“You’re right, of course you are. I just…I wish there was something we could find, something that meant she could just have peace, not have all the fucking with we had to endure. She deserves a normal fucking childhood. She’s three fucking years old and she shouldn’t comprehend the things she does, nor have such a burden wrapped around her neck!” he stated angrily, sitting up and frowning more before resting his head down onto Rin’s lap.

“We’ll find a way, we will. Look, mum said the Sanctuary weren’t anywhere to be seen when she searched earlier, so let that be a positive in all this. They’ve likely moved on. Until they pose a threat, we have nothing to worry about and neither does Seren,” she tried to comfort him with, stroking his hair and kissing him between his shoulder blades before he sat up again. Still, he frowned though.

“It’s just more prolonging the inevitable, though. Just like what we’ve done since her birth,” he fumed quietly, reaching to pull her onto his lap in case she confused his fury to be aimed at her rather than the situation.

“What else can we do, though? There’s no alternative, Geralt. I know you desperately want there to be one, just as I do too, but there isn’t. Or if there is, we’re yet to find it.” He eventually agreed that her assessment was fair, sighing again as he held her close.

They made a plan for their day to come before falling asleep, both managing a sound night of rest that would hold them in good stead for everything they had to keep them busy the following day.

“You could just use your fire, mummy,” Seren whispered as she and Rin lay on their bellies behind the concealment of a bulky, fallen tree, Rin pointing her arrow right at the large boar a few yards ahead.

“I could, but that will cook it immediately and we want to save some of this meat and cure it out so we have plenty for winter,” she replied before letting go of the bow and hitting it straight in the head.

“A very clean shot.” Seren complimented her with, making her laugh when she patted her arm. Unlike some children might, Seren never got upset about the prospect of an animal dying for them to eat.

Her power and all that surrounded it wasn’t the only thing she seemed to comprehend at a high level for her age. The world around Seren was something she understood in a way that took her parents by surprise, how much of an old soul she appeared to be.

“Can I try next? Please, mummy?” Seren asked a little later as they tracked a stag, sneaking along to get a good view of it in the clearing ahead.

“No, little one. You’re not strong enough to wield a bow and arrow yet,” Rin whispered, before holding a finger to her lips.

“I didn’t mean that,” she whispered back, pulling her mother’s hand. She then stared at the stag and held her hand out, the majestic beast suddenly dropping down instantly. “I meant like that. No arrow, just gone. I know I’ve taken life very horribly, before I was born, but if I can control myself. I don’t have to be the monster you and daddy are trying to prove I’m not.”

“Seren, you only told your father yesterday that if you become frightened or angry then you might not be able to control it. What has changed since then?” Rin asked her, trying to word her question carefully.

“The worry I can see you and daddy are going through. I don’t want to be bad, although I know I have badness within me, the fire I can’t control. What if I could, though? What if I practiced? I know those people might not still believe me, but if you and daddy did what you do to them and I stood aside, then I’m not the monster, am I? They’re the monsters, and killing monsters is what you and daddy do,” she replied with a shrug.

“If only it were all so simple,” Rin sighed, remembering Enillah’s words to her within her hollow four years before. And then, as if she read her mind…

“Maybe the crone was wrong.”

This was something Rin had never considered before.

“Seren, my love, this is just…daddy and I don’t want to burden you with it. You’re our baby, our little girl! We want you to enjoy that for as long as you can and not have to make such adult decisions. We know you’re incomprehensibly bright, we know you understand much, much more than any other child your age would, but you must leave these decisions to me and daddy,” Rin explained, Seren glowering slightly.

“But this is what it is, mummy. You can’t just treat me like a normal little girl and want that for me, because I’m not and I’m never going to have a normal life for a long as I possess my power. You can’t change a tree into a dog, because it’s a tree. It isn’t possible. I have a voice in this too, it’s me it’s happening to. I love you so much for wanting something different for me, though.”

She threw her arms around Rin at that point, the ember wiping tears from her eyes as she reluctantly accepted that her daughter was right. She couldn’t protect her from this, or try to change it. Holding her tightly and breathing in the sweet scent of her soft, white hair, she swallowed back the lump in her throat before beaming at Seren.

“Come on, let’s go and collect your very first hunting kill.” She told her brightly, mother and daughter walking hand in hand towards the fallen stag.

After cleaning and carving the kills, Rin set about making dinner while Geralt kept Seren entertained, telling her stories from when he first began hunting until their food was ready. Later that night, Rin sat in Geralt’s arms by the fire, talking with him about her hunting trip and the insights Seren had revealed.

“It’s difficult to know which way to go with this. On the one hand, what she says is very acceptable. If she stands aside and lets us deal with them, and eventually the Order too, then it would prove she has self-control.

“On the other hand, not that I really want to believe it to be applicable yet, but she could be using cunningness to lull us into a false sense of security, while secretly she has every intention of decimating her enemies just as savagely as she did before she was born,” he commented, Rin sadly realising that this had every chance of being correct.

“I know it sounds awful, but I think we need to test her. It’s the only way we’ll know for sure how she’ll react to a threat,” Rin stated, sighing and not liking the proposition, even if it was her own.

“Are you suggesting we hunt down the Sanctuary and expose ourselves?” he asked, frowning but not sounding altogether disagreeable.

“I can’t see another way forward. Maybe we should also consider looking at ways to live with what she has as well as researching how to remove her of it. We might have to accept that this could be something she can’t be cured of; therefore, we have to teach her how to control it.” He agreed that it was a good idea, stating that perhaps they shouldn’t begin with the Sanctuary right away, though.

“Mummy, I had a bad dream.” A tearful sounding Seren called from the stairs suddenly, Rin getting up and going to fetch her. She brought her back down, resuming her sitting on Geralt’s lap while rocking her baby in her arms, a loving hand stroking her head.

In a situation where they could do little for their child, at least comfort was one thing they could provide for her. Everything else, as they would shortly learn, was entirely up to Seren. It would take them all by the greatest surprise, too. 


	39. Chapter 39

“Geralt, come and look,” Rin called from the window one morning, watching Seren outside with her grandmother. Reluctantly climbing from the warm comfort of their bed, he pulled his trousers on and came to the window to view what she’d alerted him to. “She’s practising, testing what she’s capable of.”

Looking at Seren, he watched as she tried various little tests given to her by Helene, deciding to go downstairs with Rin and observe a little closer.

“Watch, this is utterly incredible. She had the gift of resurgence,” Helene spoke as they arrived in the garden, Seren pointing her hand at a flower and making it wilt. Just a few seconds later, though, through the concentration of her mind, she brought it back to its blooming glory. It truly was incredible.

“Show mummy and daddy what else you’ve done this morning,” Helene encouraged, Seren turning to a bird sitting on a nearby upturned bucket and holding her hand out. Immediately, its chirping was silenced, the beak still moving but not a single sound coming out. “And?”

Looking at her grandmother, she held her hand out and suddenly made her levitate in the air, Helene hovering a few feet above the frosty grass as she giggled, Seren gently setting her down once more.

“That’s very impressive, darling,” Geralt complimented her with, scooping her up when she ran to him, taking her around to the frozen waterfall while Rin and Helene talked.

“I thought I’d let her flex her mettle, see what she’s capable of but also keep it light and fun. No letting her succumb to the darker side of her power. I think it’s inevitable that we have to gear ourselves up to teach her how to cope with being an extraordinary child. Like she told you, it is what it is. We can’t change her and after so much searching, I am at a loss to know how we can remove her of it,” she confessed, Rin nodding.

“I think you are right,” she lamented, sighing as they began to take the path Geralt had just travelled in. “It still leaves the issue of The Sanctuary, though. They’ll hunt her, hunt all of us for the rest of their lives, as will future generations too. We assume, but do not know for sure, that Seren will be like us, with a longer life expectancy than regular people. This could go on for centuries,” she continued.

“I wish they’d just forget about her, about all of us!” Helene fumed lightly, changing her expression to a big smile when Seren looked at her curiously. The child was beginning to realise just how much her powers troubled her family.

“Grandma, are we going to play more today?” she asked.

“Of course, little one. I think breakfast is in order firstly, though.” The family retreated into the house, the snow beginning to tumble down heavily, Seren warmed by a large blanket her father wrapped her in while they toasted bread at the hearth.

Although still so tentative, Seren was such an astute child. Just by looking at her Geralt, she knew he carried within him the burden of worry over what she would become, because of her power. She saw the same in her mother too. It was deeply unsettling, to know that what she couldn’t control was the cause of it.

‘I must try. I must not give into my power. I have to be good for mummy and daddy. If I am strong enough to wield this power, I am strong enough to contain it’ she thought to herself, when suddenly an idea hit her. Thinking back to her grandmother’s words about wishing the Sanctuary would forget, Seren took another piece of bread to spear on the end of the toasting fork and thought on it for a while, the formative plan she’d begun to mull over.

“Are you okay, daddy?” she asked, after using her power on her father.

“Yes, little sunshine. I suddenly forgot where I was for a few seconds. How strange.” Picking up the toasting fork, he smiled at his daughter and continued to stare into the flames as the bread was turned from white to golden brown, Seren satisfied. She knew what to do.

After eating, Helene continued to guide her granddaughter through the use of her power, testing her further with what she could do.

“She’s limitless, it would seem. This both fills me with a sense of wonder and dread,” Rin commented, she and her mother watching as the little girl stood in the doorway, enlarging snowflakes as she giggled.

“Wonder for now, while she’s still innocent and her powers are for fun is how I look at it. The dread creeps in whenever I think of her being threatened, the fact she’s been so casual over eviscerating her enemies at just three years old,” Helene replied, her daughter nodding.

“We need to figure something out. Geralt and I spoke of perhaps putting her in a position to provoke her powers, facing the Sanctuary to see what it is she would do, but since we’ve come to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be right and we must instead just keep on impressing upon her not to succumb to her rage. How on earth we do that without putting her in that situation in the first place, though, I just don’t know,” Rin spoke, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

“Darling,” Helene cooed softly, pulling her into her arms and soothing her as she cried helplessly. She was at her wits end with it, having no plan to put in place to help Seren.

“I feel like I’ve failed her!” she sobbed, Helene quick to assure her that wasn’t the case at all.

“Mummy, why are you crying?” Seren then asked, coming to her side and hugging her leg. “It’s okay. It’ll all be okay, you know. I think I know what to do.”

Rin was just about to question what it was she thought should be done, when suddenly Seren threw out her hands, her power stopping everything around her.

“I’m sorry, I’ll make this right.” She spoke to her frozen mother, reaching to stroke her hand before pulling on her cloak and scarf and running from the house.

She saw her father suspended in motion where he’d been walking back up the path that lead from the stables, stopping to hug his legs and leave a little apology that would obviously go unheard by him too, but which Seren felt she had to say.

Stopping at the edge of their land, she let her senses guide her, sniffing the air and knowing she had to head west, turning and running in the adjacent direction, through the fields blanketed with snow, her snug winter clothes keeping her warm as her pace quickened. Just like her parents, her stamina and speed were greater than those of an average person, but with such little legs it would still take longer than she would have liked.

Time was truly of no consequence since she was holding it still, but Seren didn’t want to be away from home without her mummy or daddy for long. She might have been more powerful than either of them put together, but when it came down to it, she was still only three. This quest she’d set herself upon was daunting for her.

Testing her power, she suddenly propelled forward, perhaps a little too hard when she softly crashed into a gate, shaking herself off and giggling while she continued to concentrate on keeping time still. She found that after a little practice, she could compartmentalise this, concentrate on it but leave her mind free to focus on other tasks too, such as a faster forward motion in the direction of where she could sense the Sanctuary dwelled.

They were many miles south west of where she ran at speed through the forest, Seren moving herself faster and faster to cover as much ground as she could. She could sense they were all assembled together somewhere, no members off on scouting trips. This would make the task she’d been formulating since earlier that morning all the easier.

She’d experimented and it was something she was capable of, spurred on by the words of her grandmother. If only they could forget…

Nearing the edge of the large camp, a congregation of tents all dotted around, Seren slowed and ducked behind a tree, allowing time to move again and watching them resume their duties. It looked as though they were packing up to move on. It was that moment, or never.

“Young girl! What is a little babe doing out in these woods alone? Wherever are your parents?” A large man asked her kindly as she approached him, crouching down to her level after sheathing his sword.

“I’m here to speak to you, all of you. My parents are not far away. May I have your audience?” she asked, the man viewing her curiously.

“Why, of course, but I must insist that your mama and papa know where you are first,” he spoke, offering his hand in order to take her back to where she’d wandered and let her parents know she was safe. Even at her tender age, Seren sensed just how much this man believed himself to be a good person, when in fact he was nothing more than a pious murderer of anyone even remotely different from himself.

“They know where I am, our camp is nearby,” she spoke, smiling bravely. “So, the audience?” He looked on at her curiously, a little perplexed at what this tiny child could want their attention over. ‘She probably has some song or dance she wants to perform for us, as all children often enjoy’ he thought, shaking his head and calling his group present.

“Now I have you all gathered, I feel it is time I introduced myself. My name is Seren, daughter of Geralt of Rivia and Rin of Rholkrhaden, but this isn’t something any of you will remember soon. Quite simply, you shall forget.”

The first few people closest to her made to charge and strike her down, weapons brandished, but found themselves stuck when she held out her hand. “From this day forth, the Sanctuary of the Blessed shall not know of my power. I will no longer be a target to you, nor shall my parents, or any other ember, mage or witcher.

“You now have a new purpose in life, your code is to defend the monster hunters, to uphold their values and allow them to pass freely from village to village, town to town, without the persecution they often face for being different. Nod if you understand.”

Fifty six heads, every member of the northern fraction of the Sanctuary all nodded at the words the tiny little voice spoke to them, along with four embers who were present also. “The same shall go for you ember people too, you will strive to seek no use from me. I am, for all you are aware, a perfectly normal little girl. True, my mother’s fire was the catalyst for my birth, but there is nothing remarkable about me other than how I came to be. Do any other members know of me, though?” She prudently asked. They shook their heads, indicating they were the only ones who did.

“Ahh, good. Now, I am far from home and tired from my journey. I require someone to escort me back, please. You found me wandering and were concerned.” With a wave of her hand, the people who had been mid-charge all fell, everyone coming round. They looked a little puzzled, but picked themselves up and dusted the snow off their clothes, the large man speaking again.

“Let me get my horse saddled, little one, and let’s see about getting you home! Could someone furnish this little dot with some cake while she waits? All little girls love cake, don’t they?” He reached down to pinch the apple of her cheek affectionately, Seren turning back into adorable, three year old child mode and giggling, thanking the lady who swiftly appeared to unwrap a package of fruit cake and hand her a slice.

‘We’re free, and it was so easy. All I have to do is be good for mummy and daddy and not give in to my rage.’ She thought to herself happily, enjoying her cake as she waited patiently for her escort home to arrive with her. Meanwhile, back at her home, just after she’d made time move forward again…

“She did it again, she stopped…Seren? Seren, where are you?” Helene called after coming to again, suddenly frantic. “Geralt? Is she outside?” she then screamed, meeting him at the doorway while Rin moved to grab her sword, taking Geralt’s two and throwing them over to him. She couldn’t sense her daughter anywhere close, leaving only one conclusion.

“No, mum. She’s gone to them, she’s gone to take them on! Just before she stopped everything, she told me she’d make everything right, remember? We have to get to her, quickly!” They ran from the house, Helene calling that she’d stay behind, tacking up their horses at lightning speed before jumping on board and galloping away in the direction they sensed she’d gone. Her scent was just about traceable, still.

“How fucking long has she been gone for? We could have been frozen like that for hours, maybe even days! Did she stop it because she was successful or because she was hurt?” Rin questioned all at once, out of her mind with worry.

“I cannot answer that for you, Rin. I know just as much as you do.” Geralt reminded her as they charged over the fields, glad the snow wasn’t any deeper than a foot. They moved over the land, travelling for miles as the western breeze carried their daughter’s scent closer to them, half an hour passing until something came visible in the distance.

“Is she…” Rin trailed off, squinting as she viewed the sight, a Sanctuary member cantering in their direction, holding onto Seren securely, her ears picking up on them singing a folk song together.

“Singing. She’s singing her favourite song, the Bluebells and Butterflies,” Geralt spoke, nodding and looking over at Rin in a perplexed manner. What on earth was going on?

“Oh, so here are mama and papa, out searching for you! You told me it wasn’t far, little one! We’ve easily travelled three miles!” the man chuckled as he drew his horse up to a halt in front of them. “They get away from you so incredibly quickly, don’t they? My four were exactly the same when they were small. You must have been frantic,” he spoke, Geralt and Rin utterly dumbfounded as he climbed down and helped Seren out of the saddle.

“Thank you for the ride, and for the cake!” she told him, hugging his legs.

“You’re more than welcome, Seren,” he spoke, smiling fondly as she ran into her father’s open arms, Geralt crouching to pick her up.

“Thank you for returning her to us. We were indeed frantic,” he spoke, still wondering what on earth was going on.

“Well, all’s well that ends well. Keep up the good work, both!” He told them cheerily, mounting his horse and waving at Seren again.

“Bye, bye, Arthur!” she called, waving back before he rode away.

“What did you do?” Geralt immediately interrogated her, passing her to Rin. She held her tightly, breathing in her scent with relief. It had only been a short time without her, but every single second was utter agony.

“I made them forget. Grandma gave me the idea, so I tried it this morning. Daddy, I’m sorry but I used you to test if I could make people forget something. When you forgot where you were while we were toasting bread earlier, it was because I made you forget what you were doing. I knew then that all it would take was for me to find the Sanctuary and then make them forget about my power, which I did.”

“Also, I made them forget about their grudge against embers, mages and witchers and told them that they now are the people who defend you and allow you to pass from place to place without suffering persecution. You know how those religious people spread the words of the gods? They will be like that, but with witchers and embers. I also made the embers who were after me too forget why, after checking I found out that they were the only four who knew about me. I’m sleepy, can I snuggle up and sleep on the way home?”

“Yes, of course you can, little sunshine. Your mummy and I, we’re so proud of you for what you did. You found a way out of this without having to succumb to harming anyone. That takes a lot for a three year old. You truly are wise beyond your tentative years,” Geralt told her, kissing her head, a single tear falling from his eye. Rin shed a few more, both beyond proud of her, revelling in the relief that being sleepy from her excursion was all she had to worry about. She could be just as she was, a three year old little girl.

“Come on, then, my baby. Let’s go home.” Rin told her passing her back to Geralt and climbing onto Blanche, having her handed into her arms, Seren cuddling against her mummy as Geralt jumped onto Roach and they slowly trotted away. Just as any other child, five minutes into the journey, Seren was fast asleep.

“It’s over. It’s all over.” Rin sighed happily, turning to Geralt and smiling.

“Well, for now, at least. We have to negotiate getting her through her teenage years with all the powers she has while her emotions run wild first,” he commented, Rin scowling.

“You just had to ruin it for me, didn’t you?” she stated, making him chuckle gruffly.

“Just preparing you, darling.” It was true, they knew at one point in the future they would have a difficult job of teaching her to harness both her powers and emotions, but for that moment they had exactly what they’d always wanted, a child who was able to have what they had been deprived of; a childhood. Everything else could wait.


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the last chapter is here. I want to apologise for the sporadic nature of my posting updates to this, but thank each and every one of you who read, left kudos and contributed the life's blood of a writer; commentary on the story. I only hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did creating it.

“So, how many Roach’s have there been now, dad?” Seren asked her father as they rode back from the horse markets towards home.

“This will be Roach number six. She quite reminds me of the previous one,” he stated, Seren nodding.

“She was my first word. I loved that old mare, I’m still quite sad she’s no longer with us,” she lamented.

“Don’t feel bad that your efforts weren’t enough, darling. You tried your best for her, but she was just too old and tired.” Through the gift of resurgence, Seren had attempted to bring Roach back and make her last forever, yet it simply wasn’t to be. Death, she had to sadly accept, was something her incredible power couldn’t fight off when it was someone’s time to go, when they were old and no longer for this world.

“I know, it’s yet another thing I have to accept. It isn’t all about what I am able to do, but what I cannot do too,” she replied, Geralt nodding. At just fourteen, she was so wise, just like she always had been.

“That’s correct, Seren.” He was so unbelievably proud of her, his beautiful eldest child. True, as Enillah had predicted, she had been a handful at times and he, Rin and Helene had very much had their work cut out for them in teaching her to control her powers, but so far they had been predominantly successful. The times when they weren’t, however, were more tumultuous than any would care to recall.

Her love for her parents always won out in the end though, realising just how much they’d agonised over her abilities when she was a baby and trying with all her might not to misbehave. Being a young teenager, Seren still had her moments, but mostly she realised that to succumb to the fire within wasn’t only worst option for her, it wasn’t the best example for her little brothers.

Six years ago, Rin had given birth to twin boys, Landon and Logan, who were also blessed with abilities, similar to Seren’s, yet not quite as decimating. Still though, they were a handful.

“Dad! Look!” Logan called from the top of an oak tree they were approaching, Geralt rolling his eyes.

“How many more times do I have to tell you, boy. Out of the trees. Now.” A second later and he appeared by his father’s side, looking bashful that he’d been scolded. One of the twin’s exceptional powers was that they could move within a blink, the boys never once using the stairs in their home. If they wanted to go to the kitchen, they simply moved there in an instant. Not even Seren could move so swiftly.

It was this fast movement along with a knack of being able to make objects levitate that meant Logan was on foot at that moment and not riding Bramble, his pony. Causing an entire cart of apples to dance around in the air, making a few hit people on the back of their head and near terrify the woman who they belonged to, Seren having to erase the little incident from her mind was the reason. This meant a suitable punishment was in order. Logan would travel on foot for the next few outings.

Landon was at home helping his mother collect the fruit from the harvest and do all the other work they’d missed out on, having just returned from a hunting trip. The family all travelled together when Geralt and Rin were required to move out of the immediate vicinity of their home, Seren caring for her brothers if her parents were gone into the night.

Home was still in the north, the place of such harsh winters which gave way to the kind of beautiful summers the likes of which they were currently enjoying. The heat of the long days were only ever tempered by the breeze coming over the Blue Mountains, sending a cool whirl through the many trees surrounding their property and carrying the sound of laughter to Geralt’s ears a while before he, Seren and Logan reached their home.

“Put it down, no! He lives in the river, do not chase me with it!” He heard Helene’s voice speak, knowing Landon was likely torturing his grandmother with newts again. They were the only creatures she couldn’t bear to be around.

“Landon, enough. Come and help me chop these apples so we can preserve them for sauce. No, put my sword down, right now!” He then heard Rin state just as they turned into the line of trees that lead toward their land.

“Okay, mum! No need to threaten me with fire!” He replied boldly, shouting ‘ouch!’ shortly after. That was likely one of the many frequent clips around the ear he received from his mother’s hand. By the time he arrived, he found the elder of the twins settled with a bucket at his feet, looking sheepish at Geralt’s knowing look upon entering the house. Of course, he knew his father had heard the exchange.

“Let’s have another baby, it’ll be wonderful…so what do you do? You go and put two of them in me,” Rin told him as he entered the kitchen, smiling at her as he pulled her close for a kiss.

“It’s been six years. You have to stop complaining that my seed gave us twins,” he spoke, Rin grumbling before kissing him again.

“Never!” She teased, softly thumping his chest.

“Has Landon packed everything he needs?” he asked, pouring himself a cold beer from the nearby jug.

“Yes, he’s all ready to go. Secretly, I can’t wait for a little peace. I cannot remember the last time it was just you and I.” They were about to be just the two of them again later that evening for three days, the boys going on a hunting trip with Riley and Seren heading to a mage’s meeting with her grandmother.

Since she was the first of her kind, there was no name for what Seren was, but she liked to go by mage or sorceress. She felt it most fitting for the young woman she had become.

“You’ll miss them come tomorrow morning, as will I, no matter how nice the quiet will be without the boys getting into mischief.” Right on cue, the sound of a crash echoed through the house, Geralt and Rin walking out into the lounge to see the twins furiously trying to shove Sam, Landon’s pony back through the front door.

“We thought he could come in and eat the peelings from the apples, we were trying to clean up quickly, we’re sorry!” Landon rushed to speak, watching his father’s expression darkening.

“Put Sam back in the paddock and then the pair of you can go to your room and stay there until Riley comes to fetch you. Believe me, it’s the safest place for you right now,” he warned them, the boys scuttling off with a very content Sam in tow, his mouth full of apple peelings.

“I’ll handle this. For the hundredth time,” Seren chuckled, picking up the large, clay pot and arranging the pieces, waving her hands and making them all join back into one again.

“My wonderful girl.” Rin cooed softly, stroking her soft, white hair and hugging her, Seren reciprocating. She truly was wonderful, an absolute credit to them both. All through the trials and tribulations of dealing with the kind of power she’d had, through her triumphs and failures, she’d never made them feel anything less than proud.

She’d screamed and cried, hated what she had within her, wanted it gone at times when she felt it took too much to control it, but those were her worst times and luckily beginning to even out a little more the further into her teenage years she headed. Her best moments far outweighed them.

It helped to constantly enforce all the good she was capable of thanks to her gift, which they tended to label her powers in an effort to enforce positivity surrounding it. They never wanted her to feel troubled over the power she possessed and through their hard work raising her as a gifted child, she seldom did.

Once the evening began to creep in, the children gone and the house locked up, Geralt and Rin saddled their horses (Blanche happily retired to pasture at twenty five years old and replaced by an iron grey gelding named Eino) and rode away into the fading sun, going on a trip of their own.

Sometimes, it was nice to go on a hunt by themselves and remember who they were before they were parents to three children, remember how things used to be. To be honest, they were still who they’d always been, they just had extra commitments in the shape of their family. When they weren’t being mum and dad, though…

“I can’t remember we had to deal with even one of those, let alone five,” Rin panted the following evening, collapsing in a heap on the floor, out of breath and covered in blood after they’d just battled against a pack of mountain trolls.

Usually trolls stayed north and high up, but that particular pack had been torturing the local villagers on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains for a few weeks by that point, a member of the Sanctuary travelling to find Geralt and Rin in order to alert them to the job which required their expertise.

Just as Seren had decreed back when she was a little girl, the Sanctuary now spent their days on the side of the monster hunters, acting as messengers, helpers on hunts when required, spreaders of the word over the good work they did and generally, very firm allies. It still sometimes felt strange to them, to have these people very much on their side after being hounded so relentlessly back when Rin was pregnant with Seren.

“There’s more, too. I can smell them.” Geralt spoke, cleaning the blood from his sword on a patch of grass before they both ran around the larger end of the lake, ready to take on the next three trolls who came for them. Once all large, smelly beasts had been dealt with, they made use of the nearby lake by washing their clothes in the warm water, both diving in themselves afterwards too in order to bathe.

“Do you remember the first time I happened upon you bathing in the river?” Geralt asked, squeezing blood tinged water from his hair.

“I struggle to accept that was almost fifteen years ago, back when we loathed one another. I think that was the only brawl I’ve ever been in that went right to my crotch,” she replied with a wink, letting her hair cascade down her back before ducking under the water. When she emerged, Geralt was right behind her, his hands clasping her shoulders before moving her hair to kiss the side of her neck.

“How about letting me go right there right now?” He suggested, Rin looking out over the pink sky as the sun began to sink further.

“Oh yes, I like the sound of that very much.” Turning in his arms, they kissed one another with furious passion, Rin jumping out of the water and clinging on around him as he carried her back to the shore, laying her on a blanket by the side of the small fire they’d lit.

Of course, though, as soon as they began kissing one another again, the flames all roared savagely. The fire between them burned just as brightly as it ever had.

“Just you, me, the fire, the horses, that eagle and no children. How blissful,” Rin commented after their very heated session beside the fire, watching an eagle soar overhead in the very last of the light.

“Well, no children isn’t strictly true,” Geralt told her, stroking the tiny swell of her belly before pulling the blanket over them more.

“This one isn’t loud, though,” she replied, turning to kiss his chest.

“Yet.” He reminded her. Indeed, when their fourth and final child, a daughter they named Lily entered the world seven months from then, she would indeed bring much more noise to the already rambunctious household. Their life might have looked much different to how either of them would have pictured it fifteen years before, but neither would have had it any other way.

The End.


End file.
